


The Iron Flower

by TheLandMaster



Category: Gundam & Related Fandoms, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Action, Drama, Gen, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:55:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27209983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLandMaster/pseuds/TheLandMaster
Summary: The Mass Effect brings miracles. It brings change. It brings disaster. The cycle must not be broken. I will make it so (HIATUS)





	1. Chapter 1

" _ **Keep going forward… No matter what…"**_

" _ **Heh… Now I have a good story to tell them when we meet again…"**_

" _ **Gaelio… I'm… Sorry…"**_

" _ **LIEUTENANT CRANK! SPECIALIST BAUDUIN! MY RIGHTEOUSNESS...!"**_

" _ **Dammit… DAMMIT!"**_

" _ **Oh… I got it dirty… Atra won't be happy…"**_

" _ **The general… Showed me kindness… I'd follow him to death!"**_

" _ **Naze, I'll show you the most brilliant light"**_

" _ **I am a man who is a witness to history"**_

" _ **I'm glad I came back… And got to meet you…"**_

" _ **That's enough! My Mobile Suit is…"**_

" _ **You can't be a True Innovator… I refuse to accept it!"**_

_**"Peace in humanity will be achieved through each person's perfect place in society"** _

" _ **Lalah was like a mother to me…"**_

…

**THESE WILL SUFFICE FOR NOW**

**THE OTHERS HAVE ALREADY BEEN GATHERED. THEY WILL FULFILL THEIR PURPOSE**

**THE TIME IS APPROACHING. NOT HASTE, BUT PRECISION IS NEEDED**

**THE CYCLE CANNOT BE BROKEN**

**I WILL MAKE IT SO**

**-O-**

Orga Itsuka did not expect to draw a breath once again. Not after he had himself pumped with enough bullets to reload a platoon if pulled from his body, and enough blood outside it to fill a bathtub. Yet he felt the air flow inside his lungs, only instead of the dry and rough airs of Mars and its terraformed atmosphere and concrete underneath his body, he felt a clean, cold air filled with the scent of greenery, and soft grass crunching beneath.

…

Something's not right.

His arms pushed sluggishly against the ground, lifting his body up ever so slowly. His sight was assaulted by sunlight and blue skies for the briefest of moments before it all turned into something more cohesive than "big blue splotch with white spots".

"W…Where… Am I?" he muttered aloud, raising his head ever so slightly. It still weighed a ton, but it was… bearable, at the very least.

"Huh…? Oh shit, it's the boss! OI, ORGA!"

His ears barely registered the very loud and boisterous voice calling out his name. But it was enough. It was enough to remind him of the one… No, the _friend_ , he had asked to die for a dream that was never meant for them.

"… Shino…?"

A muscled arm wrapped around his torso, hoisting his body up (which he realized, for some mysterious reason was not covered by his usual business suit, but instead by his old uniform from their first job as Tekkadan) and allowing him to at least sit down. It allowed him at least to gaze upon the people now around him. People he realized, he had never gotten the chance to say goodbye.

Shino had looked just like he always did between battles, short hair messily combed all over, big hazel-colored eyes peering down at him with all the worry and straightforwardness he showed, that big stupid grin he always carried and everyone always loved seeing before and after a battle.

Beside him, Akihiro was crouched, one hand resting against the floor, the other propping his body up with all the care his steel beam-like muscled arm could reasonably give. His always narrow eyes gazed down at his boss with subtle softness, his hardened visage betraying the underlying care only to those who knew him very well.

All around, were kids wearing the Tekkadan uniform. There weren't many, at least that much he could tell, some of them even carrying the blood-red streak of the Human Debris on their coats that they insisted to keep as a reminder of where they came from before Tekkadan made them into people. They were gathered around in a loose circle, all eyeing their boss with relief, happiness, a mix of both or even something else entirely. Yet these were not the ones Orga had his focus on. His gaze was instead, on the two just ahead, the one that had started this entire journey, and the one that started its end…

His black hair was as messy as ever, falling all around his head. Blue eyes, the right one out of focus from the mysterious damage, and the arm on the same side hanging limp from disuse after the battle on Earth. An always serene face, no matter how many times he was asked to fight and risk his life. The light bump made by a concealed 9mm pistol that had executed as many people as his mobile suit.

Beside him, a tall man, blonde hair neatly combed to the side, his similarly blue-colored eyes staring yet not with care, but a sharp wit and pride. A military uniform, gold-blue-white, with the much-hated flag with seven stars upon the left side of his chest. A blue cape draped over his shoulders, falling lightly behind his back up to the shoulder blades.

"It is good to see you again, Orga Itsuka"

"Orga"

"... McGillis… Mika"

**-O-**

It felt like hours had passed as Orga gathered up all the kids for a proper headcount. Bar him, Mika, Akihiro and Norba, there were eight Tekkadan kids alongside him, three younger and five older ones. McGillis was further away from them, chatting up two armored Gjallarhorn soldiers, having sent the other 3 and his aide, Isurugi, off to check their surroundings. All around them, green fields and some trees, and on the distance, some strange buildings. Bar the clothes on their back, they seemed to have nothing else around.

"So… No idea where we are, huh" sighed the Tekkadan boss, running a hand through his hair.

"Pretty much, boss. We wanted to check around, but the blonde dude asked to wait for you to wake up" answered Shino with a shrug. "Didn't last, though, he sent four of his guys out to scout, and we sent a few of our own along just in case"

"Hmm… How many did we send?"

"Three, plus Amida" droned out Akihiro. The Gusion's pilot was off to the side, arms crossed and brow frowned in thought. "The soldiers weren't armed, but safety in numbers just in case". Orga hummed approvingly at that particular tidbit. Safety in numbers was always good, and Amida somehow had made it here too.

No sign of Naze, however… His brother hadn't made it to… Wherever this was. He turned his gaze to Mikazuki, who had been calmly eyeing McGillis off the side.

"Mika… How're your legs?"

"Hm? Oh, I can use them. I guess it's back to how it was before the fight with the bird" mused the boy. He lifted his useless right arm with the left one, letting it flop to the side limp. "My arm doesn't work, though, and the eye can't see very well"

Even with his teeth gritted, Orga nodded. He didn't know how Mika regained his legs, but if he was here… If they were all here… It meant only one thing.

"… Mika… I got a question…"

"Hm? What is it, Orga?". The older boy swallowed hard, knuckles clenched so tightly they turned white out of sheer rage. He knew the question… He knew it so easily… But… It caught in his throat, stuck there like a piece of hot metal. It burned, it burned so badly…

… But…

"… Did… Did everyone…"

"… They lived"

Mika hadn't moved from where he stood, face completely neutral even as Orga looked at him with a mix of panic and relief. The young boy looked down at the bracelet by his wrist, letting his gaze lingering on the blue rope upon it.

"Me and Akihiro made sure of it. We stayed behind to let them escape". It was said so matter-of-factly, so easily discussed the fact that right now, they were surrounded only by one kind of person: dead ones.

"I see… Thank you, Mika, Akihiro…"

"Don't mention it. It was our mission" added the Gusion pilot from the side. Mika gave him a short nod, face as neutral as ever, before looking up ever so slightly. Akihiro followed his gaze and noticed it as well. "Heads up, Gjallarhorn".

"I see you all already came to grip with our situation" said McGillis ever so politely, flanked by soldiers on each side, their helmets betraying none of their appearance to the outside world. "Good. We might have found our next step in this place"

"And that would be?"

"Isurugi just returned, he reported something not far from here, inside a cave. He asked we personally come to check it out. Your friends have vouched for him"

"The last time we trusted you, you ruined all me and my family built up" growled out Orga, hands clenched into fists. "You were the reason Tekkadan ended"

"True. But now, we find ourselves in a situation where cooperation is the only answer to this predicament, whatever it may be" answered Fareed, slowly fiddling with a lock of his hair. A common tick of his, a silly one, but one he always seemed to return to doing it whenever pensive. "This is an unknown location, clearly not Mars nor Earth"

"How do you figure it ain't Earth?" asked Shino in innocence.

"I've worked with Gjallarhorn my entire life, visited every corner of the planet. I've seen much… Yet no place like this. Even the plains in the SAU were not this verdant". Fareed turned to stare at Mikazuki, who simply gave the same plain stare he gave most people. The boy carefully slid his pistol off his pants, cocked it, and turned to McGillis. The soldiers beside him visibly tensed, but remained at the ready waiting for their general's command. A moment passed… Two…

"… If he tries anything, I'll handle it, Orga" added the boy finally, carefully lowering the gun, but keeping it tightly on his hand. He gave his long-time friend an aside glance.

Good enough for him.

"Alright then. All of you, follow up!" yelled out Orga. The kids gathered up around him, a look of fierce determination upon their faces. He gave them an approving nod, before turning back to his… acquaintance, his right eye closed. "Lead on then… McGillis Fareed". His only response was that ever-present smile.

"Very well then… Orga Itsuka"

**-O-**

The walk did not last very long, but the tension was felt throughout it. McGillis took point, his escorts ever-present and still beside him. Just behind walked Orga and Mikazuki, his pistol still at his side. Shino and Akihiro had taken the rear, herding the rest of their group along and keeping watch just in case.

He didn't put too much thought onto it, but Orga let it register on his mind: he had died on Mars. The fact he was alive once again here was nothing short of a miracle, one he would not try to figure out how. And he had been brought together with so many members of the only family he had: Tekkadan. Still…

He thought of those that he left behind…

Eugene, Derma, Hush, Azee, McMurdo, Atra, Kudelia, old man Nadi, Merribit, Ride, Chad, Dante, Takaki, Dexter, Yamagi, Cookie and Cracker, old lady Sakura, Makanai…

Could he go back? _Would_ he go back? There was nothing for them back on Mars… Rustal Elion made sure to tell him such. The damn war with Gjallarhorn cost him everything. All he could do for everyone was pray that Makanai kept his end of the deal and spirited away everyone else to safety…

"We're here" came the call from McGillis just ahead, pulling Orga from his own musings. A quick rush forward reunited the entirety of the group at the crest of a hill and a glance down revealed their destination.

The rock formation jutted out from the ground like a small mountain, its uneven surface filled with cracks and bumps betraying its age. Just ahead, the entrance into it, darkness creeping from the edges and inwards onto the mountain. At the mouth of the cave, three more Gjallarhorn soldiers were gathered in a circle alongside McGillis' aide, Isurugi Camice. Just to the side, he saw the kids Norba and Akihiro mentioned sending out with the scout party. And right beside them, was a woman that would be the only link back to his "brother": Amida Arca. She kept herself leaned against the walls of the rock formation, but turned to face Orga with a warm smile as he pushed forward to close the distance between them, letting the others gather up in a group.

"Well look who's finally up" said the woman, arms crossed under her chest. Orga never admitted it to Naze, but he found Amida to be beautiful. Even the scar didn't detract from it, in fact it seemed to only heighten it. "Seems like the boss of Tekkadan is never down for the count"

"Heh, as if. I got a lot more to go before I bite the bullet" joked back the young man, waving a hand dismissively in the air. His expression turned serious quickly however and turned to face the gathered Gjallarhorn soldiers. "So, what's your read on them?"

Amida gave a shrug, but her face had also hardened up. "They've been pretty calm so far, no sudden movements or hushed talks. I listened in, but the most they talked about is the fact that there's so few of them"

"Hmmm… Well, whatever happens from now on, I'm glad I have people I trust at least by my side"

"Aren't you a charmer?" she joked back, before giving a quick glance over his shoulder. Orga turned just in time to catch McGillis approaching, Isurugi at his side and his soldiers gathered up at the cave's entrance.

"I see you gathered up your own. That's good" said Fareed, before motioning to the cave. "Come. What awaits down there concerns us all"

Their walk down the tunnels was quite something. Not only because the tunnels seemed very smooth (too smooth, Orga noted with apprehension), but they also had lighting to them. Electric lighting at that. Minute wires ran the length of the ceiling, small LED lamps casting a clean, white light at the grey-and-black stone that surrounded them. Mika and Akihiro were at his side, McGillis and Isurugi just ahead leading the path, the rest of the kids walked alongside Shino surrounding the Gjallarhorn squad just behind them.

Isurugi motioned forward and the party picked up the pace. A short dash forward, and they had reached the end path. The tunnel opened into a larger room, the lighting cords splitting off onto two sides and circling around. The area itself was very spacious, a wide circle with no other formations, and a near-perfectly slim floor. And inside the room, something… Unexpected. Mikazuki walked forward, letting the arm holding his gun slump to the side, his gaze turning to one of the few objects in the room.

"… Barbatos"

Right there, standing a bit apart from one another around the room… Were their Mobile Suits. Only instead of their towering full height, they had been barely bigger than an adult person. The group rushed down, sliding down the rock side as carefully as they could in their hurry.

Six Shidens, two Garm Rodis, five Ground-Type Grazes and a blue Schwalbe Grazer lined the outer walls, completely upright and with no apparent weapons. Upon the middle, more unique suits: Orga's white Shiden, the Gusion Full City, Flauros, Bael and a pink-and-black Rouei. The children ran forward to the familiar suits, fawning over them and their now diminutive size. In the Gjallarhorn side of things, they took to meticulously checking their Grazes, running hands down the plating and checking joints. Orga let a hand rest on the shoulder of the suit that had once been promised to him, The King's Throne. The red flower emblazoned upon its right shoulder glowing ever so slightly in the low light, the mark of his family always present. Beside him, Mika walked up to the metal titan that had given him a chance for life… And took his body bit by bit as payment.

Barbatos, even when this small, was still as intimidating as ever. Its clawed hands hung open at its sides, right beside the long animal-like legs. The horned head peered into the nothing, darkened green eyes facing forward and away from the group. No weapons were visible upon it, but it mattered little. Mika let his good arm rest upon the chest plate, gently caressing the metal plating.

"You got so small…" said the boy, a hint of nostalgia upon his words. Orga let out a chuckle at those words, figures Mika would be very blunt. He did notice, however, that Barbatos' appearance had changed. Instead of the more feral look they turned it into after the battle against the Mobile Armor, it had the more simplistic upgrade from the time after the Battle of Edmonton: Barbatos Lupus.

"Interesting…"

McGillis ran a finger down the side of Bael's back, brushing against one particular indent he knew for a fact hadn't been there originally. A quick press down rewarded him with a low hissing sound, and suddenly the entire suit's front opened up, armor plating folding out and revealing its inner space… Or lack thereof. Instead of the metal skeleton of the Gundam frame, or any kind of machinery, the suit was hollowed out instead. The jacket port for his Alaya-Vijnana was still present on the back, and a cursory look also confirmed that most electronics seemed to tangentially still be integrated onto the necessary parts. Yet the space seemed just big enough…

Without another word, the general removed all the clothes upon his torso, and carefully climbed onto the empty space on the suit, even as Isurugi called out his name in surprise. It was a snug fit, and the cold of the metal prickled against his exposed skin. The connector on his back clicked, and he felt the surge of information flow through his mind and the suit closed around his body and the head descended upon his own like a helmet. His vision darkened, the emblem of Bael flashing on the blackness, before the HUD flared to life. Targeting reticle, ammo counter, spatial indicators… All the information he once saw from a cockpit, viewed just in front of his face.

Outside, the others watched as McGillis disappeared onto Bael, before the suit came to life and slowly looked around, arms and legs moving experimentally.

"General?" asked the aide carefully. Though he tried to hide the apprehension in his face, the shake in his tone said otherwise. Bael… Or rather, McGillis turned to face Isurugi, the red eyes glowing softly.

"Yes, I can hear you, Isurugi. Most interesting…" muttered Fareed, the wings in the suit's back shifting slowly upon their own joints in a few practiced movements. "It indeed appears that our Mobile Suits have been translated into suits of armor. It would be on our interest to check the rest"

"Oy, boss Orga, check it out!" came a cry from further back. Two kids came running back, pointing excitedly behind them. "There's a bunch of guns in some boxes back there! They look like they're for our suits!"

"There's some other gear too, shields and melee weapons too! Plus some for the Grazes" added the other boy, turning to face the moving Bael. "And… I guess a rifle for you?"

"What kind of weapons are we talking about?" asked Orga.

"Rifles, shotguns, some smoothbores, a heavy machinegun, a sniper rifle, some bazookas…"

"There were Shiden partisans too, demolition knifes for the Garm Rodis, Graze swords, the Barbatos club… Oh, your swords too"

Orga gave a look at the kids in front of him, before turning to the rest. Each one had already figured the spot to opening their own suits, showing the same empty space for a person inside it. Even the Graze seemed modified the same way, bar the lack of the AV interface. Mikazuki quickly climbed onboard his own suit, his legs resting comfortably on the Barbatos' thicker thigh sections. He felt the familiar data stream pump onto his mind, feeling the information flood his mind. Besides him, Flauros and Gusion similarly activated, though Shino seemed far more excited inside his own suit than Akihiro was, judging by the way the pink suit was waving around.

A weight fell upon his shoulder, and Orga turned to the sight of Amida standing just behind him, a soft smile upon her lips.

"Well then, boss… Aren't you gonna join them?" asked the Turbines pilot with a wink, before turning to enter her Rouei, her ever-present sway of hips reminding Orga the _other_ reason Naze held her so highly. With a slight chuckle, he turned back to his own suit, staring at the horned armor. Wherever this was, even if it was not Mars… He at least had his throne to sit upon.

Just as he climbed onto his Shiden, the entire cave started to shake violently. Dust fell from the ceiling coating their suits and throwing some off-balance. Orga clambered inside his armor and closed it quickly, the MS springing to live quickly. He turned and saw that the Grazes were also operational, bracing themselves with the feet stabilizer.

"O-Oi, what the hell?!" yelped Shino, falling to the floor forward on all fours. The stabilizer guards for his shooting mode swung forward, digging onto the ground and keeping his prone form still. "What's up with this quake?!"

"General, the radar's marking something outside. A large contact, unknown. No Ahab Waves detected" answered Isurugi from inside his Schwalbe, somehow remaining perfectly still even as the entire world around them shook. "Something doesn't feel right…". Orga let out a low _tsk_ , before turning to the gathered soldiers.

"All of you, go grab the weapons and rush outside! Move it!". The command in his voice, even if not aimed at them, seemed to stir the discipline even in the Gjallarhorn soldiers. Quickly, their soldiers rushed to the crates upon the back and armed themselves. The Grazes hoisted up tower shields and rifles, with swords being placed upon their backpack unit, some even hefting bazookas. Isurugi settled for a 120mm rifle, a long sword and a shield/claw combo weapon, a standard arsenal for the Schwalbe. He did, however, pick up an axe and placed it upon his hip.

The two Garm Rodis went for the heavy machineguns, Booster Hammers and their standard submachineguns. The Shidens picked up shields, partisans, rifles and shotguns, quickly holstering everything on their hardpoints. Amida grasped a 100mm rifle cannon, a grenade launcher, her usual blade and a 80mm handgun. Orga went with the standard loadout for a Shiden, along with two handguns.

McGillis holstered his favored weapon, the two Bael Swords he once wielded, and hoisted up something he hadn't seen in quite some time: a Valkyrja rifle, the Grimgerde's long-range weapon of choice. How nostalgic…

Shino hoisted a sniper rifle up, looking over the weapon with a satisfied grin, the Flauros already equipped with two rail cannons and hip-mounted machine guns. Beside him, Akihiro had turned into a veritable walking arsenal: a smoothbore plugged at his back, two 120mm rifles grasped by the sub-arms on his shoulders, one on his right hand, and the axe/halberd grasped tightly upon his left. Mikazuki ignored all the firearms, however. The 200mm cannons on his arms would suffice for long-range. Instead, he went for what he was most used to: a sword stashed on his back, and the sword mace handheld. He didn't need anymore than that, Barbatos had fought with less than this and still pulled through. He'd make do.

"All set, Orga" said Mika, resting the mace over his shoulder. The rest of the kids gave varying levels of affirmatives, the Garm Rodis further back shining their mono-optics as well. To the side, the Grazes walked forward together, Isurugi just ahead. Around them, the shaking seemed to calm down, yet a minute rumble was still present in the rocks. And in the air, a mechanical rumble… Faint, yet just there…

"Alright you lot, stick together and let's move! Don't shoot until you're being shot at!" yelled out the Tekkadan boss, and the gathered forces gave in response a shout.

"All units, we're deferring command to Orga Itsuka. Follow his directions during battle for broader operation maneuvers but defer to me for direct orders" said McGillis. His troops gave an uniform salute, to which he replied with a satisfied nod. "Now then… Lead on, King of Mars".

With a growl, Orga let the mental link of his AV system fire up the boosters, and short forwards towards the exit. The gathered troops followed suit, all boosting out of the cave. The roaring of engines echoed and rumbled inside the cave, deafened only by the audio receivers in the suits muting the sounds. In the brief moment he was still in the tunnel, he noticed some information in his HUD, and it seemed… Odd.

_CURRENT WEAPON - JEE-205 130MM RIFLE: 50/50 BULLETS, 7/7 CLIPS. RECHARGE TIMER: 0h0min/6h30min_

_BOOSTER FUEL: 98/100%, IN USE. RECHARGE TIMER: 0h0min/6h0min_

_STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: 100/100%. REPAIR TIMER: 0h0min/16h0min_

Worries for later, however. He pushed those thoughts aside just as they broke from the cave and back to the outside. What was there to meet them, however…

"W-what the HELL?!"

Was not expected.

The sky, for starters, had turned a deep-blood red. Black clouds tumbled through the skies at incredible speeds, as if a great wind commanded them. And they knew exactly what was causing this…

In the horizon, stretching out into the skies, was one of the biggest things they had ever seen. Bigger even than the Skipjack-class ship that the Arianrhod Fleet had fielded, it stood completely upright. It looked like of those squids Tekkadan had been served as dinner on Makanai's villa on Earth. Only it was made of a jet-black metal, had pulsing blue lines upon its hull, and seemed to shoot out red lightning into the clouds around it.

"W-What is that thing?!"

"It's m-massive!"

"Is that another Mobile Armor?! How do we fight THAT?!"

He heard the panic of the troops behind him, both from his and Gjallarhorn's, and Orga understood. This… This was something beyond. What the hell could they DO against… Whatever that thing was?

"Orga, I can hear gunfire" said Amida just behind. And indeed, as he strained his hearing, the sound of shouting and weapons firing could be heard in the distance… Along the sound of screaming. Mikazuki stepped forward, Barbatos' eyes flashing a bright green as he turned to his longest friend.

Itsuka took a moment to let his gaze roam the gathered crowd. Some of them were acquaintances of chance, allies of need… But the majority were his friends. His family.

His _only_ family.

 _Could_ he lead them again to what could very well be their death? They had just been given a second chance in life apparently, only to be thrown into another hell… What should he do?

…

"… Heh… Isn't it obvious?"

He turned towards the figure in the distance and pulled out his own partisan. The weapon's handle extended outwards, and Orga wasted no time pointing towards the horizon… Towards the enemy.

"What did I tell you all before?! Always forward! Never back down! If this is the place we belong to, then all we have to do is keep pushing on! If that's the enemy, we'll beat them down! That's what Tekkadan has always done! So all of you, ARE YOU WITH ME?!"

"SIR, YES SIR!" came the shouts from the soldiers. They screamed and yelled as loud as they could, raising their weapons to the air in triumph.

"I am picking up some life signs further to the west. I'd like to take my soldiers to verify them" said McGillis calmly. Orga gave a short nod, and it was all he had to hear.

"All troops, move out!" commanded Isurugi, and the Grazes all answered in kind. The Gjallarhorn forces sped away, boosters burning and following the speeding Bael away from them. Orga quickly turned to the rest of them, a plan forming on his mind, map open and stretched out on his visor. A quick flick of his eyes made sure everyone else could see it.

"Shino, Akihiro, I want you two on sniper detail. Head over to this ridge, there seems to be some kind of settlement down there. If you see hostiles, take them down"

"Mikazuki, go ahead as a forward assault to this location. Take out any enemies you meet along the way, then double back and follow the road here. Meet back with McGillis and help him out as you can"

"Got it, Orga" came the quick reply, before the Barbatos blasted away, boosters firing off blue flames. Finally, he turned to the rest of his troops and Amida, and he could tell she was smiling underneath the Rouei's helmet.

"The rest of you, with me! We're hitting this location, shoot anything that shoots back and rescue who you can! Am I clear?"

"YES SIR!"

"You got it, boss"

"Very well… Tekkadan! **MOVE OUT!** "


	2. Chapter 2

It was supposed to be a regular shakedown run.

Simple, quick, no hassle involved. Just the usual testing of your everyday Human-Turian joint effort constructed frigate, flying with a human crew to prove they could handle the thing.

But nooooooooooo. There's _always_ something to get in the way of those things being easy.

First had been the sole representative of the other side that had built the Normandy: Nihlus Kryik. Turian, highly commended and trained, pride to Palaven and one of the most well-known agents in their Hierarchy… Council Specter. And he was here as the latter.

Specifically, he was here for _her_ for the Council.

It had been a quick-ish talk. Nihlus asked her a few questions about her way of thinking, morals, Eden Prime… General stuff. Then boom, the bombshell of him being evaluating her, recommending her name himself, Anderson having been in on the process to. What process?

Specter recruitment process.

Official story was what she had heard: a shakedown run to test out the SSV Normandy, make sure it was up to specs, report any issues… Standard stuff. The actual job was a bit more… Interesting.

A Prothean beacon had been found on Eden Prime. The colony did not have the resources to do any in-depth research onto it, and simply spiriting it away was out of question as well. It wouldn't paint a good picture of humanity if they found a precious alien relic on a colony at the edge of the Terminus and then ran away with it like a child hiding candy from his friends.

So instead, they reached a compromise with the Council: the Normandy would fly to Eden Prime, pick up the beacon there under a veil of secrecy, then rush it back to the Citadel for thorough studies. And Nihlus, chosen as the observer and evaluator for the Specters, would give the decision of whether Shepard was ready to be one of them. But he knew it was more of a formality than anything else to him.

Commander Aria Shepard. System Alliance's N7 operative, served proudly her entire life. The Saint of the Skyllian Blitz who led the defense forces of the planet on pushing back the slaver tides that had come for them. The Devil of Torfan, who trudged upon the tunnels of batarian fortresses with abandon, gunning down all in her path. The Remnant of Akuze, the only survivor of the massacre of an entire unit by a horde of thresher maws, who had dug her way out of a pile of corpses and lived… Either through luck, or divine intervention.

The Executioner…

There were many names given to her, but those didn't matter for the Specters. What mattered was her track record. And hers was near spotless. That was as good as they could ask.

Now, that had been some seven minutes ago. Seven minutes before a priority SOS signal hailed from Eden Prime speaking of a Geth attack, the Normandy arriving to the sight of a massive metal squid ship attacking the planet, and no further contact with anyone in the colony.

And no word on the beacon.

As so here she was, standing on the hangar waiting for the drop to the ground and flanked by her two squad mates: Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, and Private Jenkins.

"Normandy to Shepard, you're cleared for landing" came the call from "Joker", the ship's pilot. "Careful on the way down, don't wanna end up buried from the weight"

Shepard let out a low chuckle, motioning to her teammates to go for it. Kaidan and Jenkins jumped forward with grace, legs bending to soften the impact against the ground and rifles up sweeping the area.

The Commander, instead, dropped with all the grace of a rock falling from orbit, a loud thud echoing as she got her bearings inside her new toy.

One thing most people got wrong about N7s were that their gear was more all-rounder to make adapting to situations better. That was about half-truth. In truth, N7s were allowed to choose a specialization after being inducted, or finish with just the "standard" course. It largely depended on what your goal was. Shepard's choice had been… Most satisfactory.

Aria Shepard, N7 Operative. Specialization: Destroyer.

Her armor was heavy, in all senses of the word. Plating thicker and more numerous than even Onyx's biggest model available, fully enclosing her in a giant suit of metal. Oversized plates hanging from her shoulder, creating a cover unto itself to turn against enemies and a cylindrical attachment to her right arm for fast deployment of explosives. On her right shoulder, a retractable Hawk micro-missile launcher. A fully enclosed, full plate helmet with a glowing V-shaped visor hid away her entire head. On the back of her waist, an N7 Crusader, on her back an Avenger and Mantis, on her hip a Phalanx.

Enough firepower for a squad. Both to wield, and to carry. Her training made her proficient with it all.

"Ready to go, commander?" came the eager question from Jenkins, gripping his rifle tightly and pointed forward. Beside him, Kaidan also kept his gun raised, calmly scanning the environment. Shepard let her gaze adjust to the HUD projected right in front of her face, quickly making checks of all her gear and ammo. All green.

"Let's go, eyes peeled" she said softly, pulling the Avenger from her back and strutting forward. For someone carrying about 100kg of gear, she was surprisingly graceful. The squad moved carefully, letting the environment register quickly and taking in every detail they could from the surroundings. But while the ground seemed unchanged from its usual greenery, the sky rumbled red and black above as lightning streaked across it. They through the small ridge, mindful of the rocks around them for any nasty surprises. As they crossed the open space, something pinged on the motion tracker, off to the corner. Kaidan turned quickly, eyeing the strange brown mass that floated just short of the ground.

"What the hell's that?!"

"Gas bags. Don't worry, they're harmless" said the private, eyeing the giant fungus dismissively. Said gas bag lazily passed them by without any sign of hostility. Harmless indeed.

Onwards they went, over a small incline and onto the edge of a cliff. In the distance, Eden Prime's skyscrapers proudly stood towards the sky, even blackened as they were now. Shepard's HUD marked something to the side, a small blackened mass on the floor. Curled, diminished, it looked at a glance like just some burned wood or plant… Yet the defined limbs and size of it betrayed its truth.

"Oh my god… What the hell happened here…"

Were it any other time, Shepard might have stopped to mourn them. To try and give whoever this person was some kind of respect. But now was not the time. Too many things still unresolved. First, the Geth invasion.

The dead would come later.

Two hand signals, quick and efficient, had Jenkins and Kaidan moving ahead. They hoped from cover to cover, dashing low to the ground as they hid behind boulders and rocks. Jenkins peered over the edge for hostiles… Nothing… He dashed forward to the next rock…

Shepard heard it seconds before they came. The telltale hum of an eezo hover unit, the subtle hum of a mass accelerator moments from firing, the glint of something metal reflecting the light around it.

Those were the only warnings she had before two Geth Recon Drones flew into view, guns blazing and aimed straight at Jenkins. The private took one second to register the danger and jump towards cover.

One second too late.

Phasic-enveloped slugs streamed through the air, superheating the ground they struck and shifting the air as they flew, many aimed at the human still half-exposed. His right left, still peeking from out of cover, was peppered with projectiles, kinetic barriers flickering out of existence in a moment. Shepard heard his cry of pain even as she peered from cover and squeezed the trigger on her Avenger, Kaidan following suit. Grain-sized ordinance cut through the air at relativistic speeds towards the enemy, but their fire did not last long. From beyond the hill, four more drones flew towards them guns blazing, forcing them all back to cover.

"Shit!" cried out Shepard as she ducked behind the rocks once again. She heard the thumping against stone from enemy fire, holstering her rifle in lieu of her Crusader. "Jenkins, hold up we're coming!". Her only answer was a low groan of pain. On the squad status she saw the private's leg marked red, warnings of injuries blaring around the limb. Cursing again, she rose from cover swinging the shotgun.

Regular kinetic barriers could not take Geth ordinance for too long. The charged slugs were tailor made to take down shields in short notice, a given when Quarians were their main enemy and relied on kinetic defenses to protect their suits. Against standard Alliance shielding, they were even more effective.

Shepard's barriers were anything _but_ standard, however.

N7 Destroyer armor, aka Hades-pattern Mark II defensive shell, was made for maximum survivability in combat. Multiple eezo power cells maintained three separate layers of shielding, each one as strong as the last and capable of soaking fire far more than any people would call reasonably safe. It gave her enough time to prime the concussive missile launcher on her shoulder. Precious seconds passed as her shields tumbled down to 63%, but it was all the time she needed.

Her finger squeezed down on the trigger, letting loose a heavy round from the shotgun. At the same time, a quickly fabricated missile fired off from her shoulder gun. The Crusader round smashed against the closest drone, tearing its barrier and hull apart as if it was made of wet tissue, while the Hydra missile broke the shields of a second drone, staggering it just enough. Kaidan took the initiative and peeked his rifle from cover, spraying in the direction of the staggered robot. Enough rounds hit their mark, and another robot joined the scrap heap. Two down, four more to go. Both hopped back onto cover, watching the shield bar climb back to 100%. She made to leave cover again when another noise echoed not too far. It was faint, yes, but also very peculiar. Shepard had heard it a few times, especially on Elysium.

Incoming.

A loud bang was followed by a drone being torn into pieces in mid-air, followed shortly by a yellow blur running through the unit right to its side, outright obliterating the machine. Dust and debris kicked up from the sheer impact, destabilizing the remaining drones and tossing them aside. The third one was thrust into the wall by a thrown axe and lodged onto the rock wall, the last one peppered with gunfire before it exploded.

Four takedowns, in the span of a few seconds. The kind of coordination you only found on highly trained units that had spent years together, thought the commander. Shepard peered over cover, scanning over the few remains of the drones. Particularly, the one that had been destroyed by the yellow object that turned out to be a—

"… Is that a sword?" she muttered under her breath, just loud enough that the microphone relayed it to Kaidan. But the biotic paid it no mind, he was more concerned with reaching Jenkins and applying medigel to his wounds. The Private grunted and groaned in pain, hands clasped around the hole in his leg as the Lieutenant pulled up his omni and started scanning the injury. Shepard pulled up the Crusader, peering down sights as their "saviors" approached. The day just kept getting better and better, why not add them being saved by an army of mechs to the list.

They landed with a grace belying their bulk and unheard of in machines. Boosters flickered out as they touched down onto the ground, hoisting rifles and shields that looked downright ancient compared to their own guns. Six of them had similar body shapes, long limbs and squared solid plating covering their body, and a cyclops-like head, though one had plating over the "eye". And indeed, they all had swords, or in the case of the blue one, the hand axe. But the lead one…

It looked far more organic, with curved plating in specific points. Clawed hands gripped the handle of a drum magazine rifle, the other resting upon the handle of the golden sword half-buried onto the ground and the drone under it. Two large wings carefully folded near its own body, the air around them still trembling from the lingering heat. And the horned head with two red eyes, glaring down at her with a certain intensity that made it look almost… Human. Carefully, Shepard holstered her shotgun and walked up to the mechs gathered around the drones. Kaidan made a motion to stop her, but a quick and discreet wave of her hand put a halt to that action. Closer and closer she got, and soon all mechs had turned to her. The face plate of the cyclops opened to reveal a glowing yellow eye underneath, concentric circles serving as irises, while the winged one's eyes simply flashed brighter. Slowly, the commander reached up for her helmet and clasped the release buttons on either side, hearing the familiar hissing of pressurized air escaping through the gaps. With one fluid motion she removed it fully, letting her shoulder-length black hair fall free from its confines. Her bright green eyes peered back against the glowing red ones.

"Well… Didn't know the Alliance had mechs like these. But whoever you are, thanks" she said with a smile.

"Worry not. We are more than willing to assist" came a calm and polite voice from the lead machine as it holstered the sword back onto its hip.

"On-board communicator? You driving these things remotely?"

The mech's head tilted ever so slightly to the side, the others exchanging looks with one another before facing her with… Was that confusion? To her surprise, the horned one let out a low chuckle. Shepard meant to question that, when a similar hissing came from its head. The face plate split in two and slid into the helmet, the top bending to the back of the head…

**~O~**

McGillis watched in no small amount of amusement the woman's look of shock as he revealed his face to her. It had been an interesting feature to discover while heading to their current location, that he'd be able to wear Bael and still show his face when necessary. The Alaya-Vijnana still fed his a POV for the Gundam, but to have it much closer to his own perspective was… Novel.

They had dashed straight towards where the radar pointed to contacts. Three of them registered as life signs, human most likely. The other six, however, were marked as unknown. They arrived just in time to witness three armored soldiers under attack by small black drones, moving in quickly to eliminate them all. Thankfully, their weapons had still been quite effective, the Valkyrja rifle tearing through the plating and curious blue barrier around the drones. Melee weapons showed just as effective even thrown, and even the Graze's standard rifle proved deadly to them. Whatever they were made of, and whatever barrier they possessed, it seemed significantly weaker than Nanolaminate armor. And now, he found himself staring at a woman wearing an armor he never saw before, with insignias he didn't recognize, apparently working for an "Alliance" he was very much sure did not relate to Gjallarhorn or even any of the power blocks back on Earth or the colonies… If Earth was still even _there_ , and fighting some kind of machine that he also never saw.

At least they weren't Mobile Armors.

Hopefully.

"Wow, umm… Wow" the voice of the woman served to pull him from his remembrance, and she was still gawking. "Umm… Color me impressed, I… Didn't know we had something like… This"

McGillis allowed a chuckle to escape his lips, turning to look at his gathered forces. "Well, madam, I assure you our situation is… Just as peculiar. But introductions take priority now, don't they? I am General McGillis Fareed, leader of the Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet of Gjallarhorn". He offered a hand in courtesy, mindful of the fact it was a clawed, metallic hand he offered.

"Commander Auria Shepard, Systems Alliance Navy" she replied courtly, tightly grasping the offered hand in a shake. Her gaze was a soothing one, yet he recognized the steel behind it, the determination and strength upon it. He knew that gaze well, it stared at him in the mirror so many times. "Forgive me but… None of those names come to mind. Who is Gjallarhorn?"

McGillis was silent for a moment, pensive, when Isurugi moved closer to him still fully clad in the Schwalbe. "General, further contacts ahead. Two humans, more unknown, possibly like the machines we destroyed"

"I take it you've never seen a Geth before?". The aide's tilt of the head only served to pique her curiosity even more. "The Geth. The machine race that live beyond the Perseus Veil? Tell me at least you know that much". The shake of the head was the final answer she needed: something was up with them. It was Fareed that made the next move however.

"Allow me to say that this is a… Curious predicament to us. I'll be willing to answer any questions you have, even assist with these Geth you speak of. I ask for only two things in return"

"Them being?"

"A manner of transport, which I believe you possess and will be able to offer, and answers to questions of my own" spoke the general in his usual calm tone. Shepard let her hand rest on her chin, eyeing the soldiers with suspicion. On one hand, they saved her life, were human, and destroyed Geth. And with an apparent shitshow like this, with a Turian Specter running solo somewhere in the planet and a giant unknown ship with Geth seen for the first time in ages beyond the Veil attacking a human colony seemingly at random, she could use all help she could get.

Yet his gear, his markings, the titles and organizations he named… She had never heard of them. And the way he spoke… He seemed genuinely curious of everything she might say. Something was definitely not right…

"Commander!" cried out Kaidan from further back as he rushed towards her. "Commander, Jenkins seems to have stabilized, we can—Jesus…". The Lieutenant gaped equally at the gathered mechs/soldiers, his eyes falling specifically on the swords and shields they all wielded.

"Easy there, Kaidan, they're friendly… For now."

"… Right… Anyway, Private Jenkins is stabilized. His wound's debilitating, however, he can't keep up with us in his condition" added the biotic, turning back to where his comrade was resting. The young man was cradling his leg lightly, hands wrapped carefully around the spot Kaidan had treated the bullet wound. McGillis was quick to step forward, motioning to the other white-clad soldier forward.

"One of my men can take care of your fallen man and take him to our camp. It is a cave away from this colony, he will be safe there" said the general, to which the soldier behind him nodded curtly. Kaidan, however, stood defiant.

"Right, and leave him alone in the middle of this mess with just your guy?"

"I do not see a better alternative. You'd leave him here to fend for himself, considering the hostiles? Nor can you remain, I can tell you already have an objective to accomplish" answered the general matter-of-factly. His eyes were focused solely on the biotic, and Alenko could feel the authority behind them. "This allows me to both prove I am trustworthy and allow you to progress with your goal. May I remind you we have allies of yours ahead, possibly in danger". Kaidan made to retort, but Shepard was faster. She stepped between her squad mate and the new arrival, hand upon his chest and a determined look in her eyes.

"The general has a point, Kaidan. We need to keep moving but can't just abandon Jenkins here". Shepard turned to McGillis and gave the man a quick nod. "Take care of him, but know we're keeping track of things"

Fareed motioned to one of the Grazes, the green machine moving quickly towards the fallen private. With a single motion, he hoisted the body onto his shoulder and boosted away back towards the cave. With that settled, McGillis closed up the Bael's helmet, the red optics flaring to life once again. "Shall we, commander?".

Shepard placed the helmet back on and unholstered her Avenger, Kaidan doing the same thing beside her. A quick point with the gun and they were on the move. The Grazes hoisted their rifles and shields up and marched slowly, heads swiveling side to side near-mechanically. Beside Shepard, McGillis walked calmly forward, rifle lowered and swords still sheathed away, Isurugi just ahead between the two groups.

"Shepard, just made it to the spaceport" came the voice on Nihlus on her radio. "A lot of bodies here"

"Copy that Nihlus, we found casualties too. No survivors yet"

"Be advised, I can also hear some intense gunfire in the distance. I'll try to find out more, over"

"Over and out"

"Your ally?" questioned McGillis, barely turning his head towards her.

"You could say that" replied the commander, calmly eyeing the trees around them for enemies. More gas bags hovered around the place, the Gjallarhorn soldiers keeping their rifles trained on the aliens creatures. Jenkins mentioned to her that they were harmless, so why were the others so wary of them? Proof that they weren't from Eden Prime at least, whatever good that did to her.

The sound of gunfire echoed just as they crested the hill, coming from just ahead. They pressed forward quickly, Shepard and Kaidan breaking into a sprint and Grazes firing off their boosters.

Not too far away, a woman in pink-and-white armor ran desperately ahead of two geth drones as they fired upon her, their shields flickering in the air as they tried to recharge. A few shots slammed against her kinetic barriers, stumbling her forward, but the drones kept up their relentless fire even as she fell to the floor and turned. With a single motion, her pistol was deployed and ready to fire. It took just a moment for her to find her targets and fire. The rounds exploded against the drones' exposed hull, easily shattering them and raining broken metal shards over the grass, her gaze shifting to the figures further away as she stood up.

Two humanoids, gun-grey in color and their skin a mix of metal plating, tubing and exposed muscle. Two three-digit hands caressed a helpless colonist as they placed him upon a three-legged pedestal, peering down at the terrified human with their long, elongated heads, a singular lamp-like eye at its end. The man whimpered as he stared at a figure most people had only heard stories of, let alone seen in any capacity.

The Geth watched impassively, even as a spire shot from inside the pedestal and impaled the man high onto the sky, blood spurting out and limbs spasming before the man fell limp.

The woman held her gasp of horror onto her throat and ran further away, jumping behind a small rock formation cradling her now-deployed assault rifle. The two synthetics turned away from their gruesome work just as their motion sensor picked up movement. They turned towards her direction, rifles up and dashing forward to engage, and Ashley Williams once more held her breath. Not because they were charging towards her.

But at what their true targets were.

The Grazes boosted forward, shields raised as pulse rounds fell upon them. Yet for all their advancement, a grain-sized round did very little against reinforced Nanolaminate armor. Two of them dashed forward, holstering their rifles and pulling out the Battle Swords, blades held outwards as they closed the distance.

The Geth, for all their advantages in weaponry and superior strength compared to a normal organic, had yet to encounter something as fantastic as a mech soldier rushing them with melee weapons with rocket engines. Both platforms continued to fire unabated, yet it did little but scratch the paint of the tower shields. One Graze pushed on and slashed out, the blade carving itself onto the drone's waist. It met resistance from the metallic body, but further strength made it give way and split the torso from the legs. The second Geth turned to face the closer threat, but its misjudgment cost dearly. The rearmost mech fired off a missile from its shoulder-mounted bazooka, the warhead streaking through the air and smashing onto the alien. Condensed napalm washed over the synthetic, flash-melting and fusing the plating and electronics of the Geth. In those few seconds, it relayed every single piece of data it compiled from analyzing its fellow platform be taken down with a sword strike, being hit with a superheated projectile, and finally, impaled on the head itself by a blade. The Graze pulled the blade back, and with a quick slash beheaded the alien.

Ashley kept her rifle at the ready, even as the unknown machines watched the Geth crackle with electricity and detonate themselves, the lights on their bodies dying out. Yet before she could start asking questions, four other figures approached her from over the ridge. Thankfully at least two were Alliance, finally giving the soldier a reason to lower her gun. And one of those figures was quite familiar.

"Commander Shepard?" asked Ashley with a tired smile, before snapping a salute. "Thank God you're here, I didn't think I was going to make it. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212th. You're the one in charge here, ma'am?"

"That's me, Chief. Glad to see you're safe" replied the commander, waving off the other woman.

"Can't say I'm happy with it, ma'am…" replied the chief, rubbing her hands together for comfort. "Oh man, we were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit… We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our comms right out of the gate. I've been fighting for my life ever since"

"Where's the rest of your squad?"

"We tried to double back to the beacon, but it was a trap". The soldier looked down, hands tightened in anger. "I don't think… I think I'm the only one left". Shepard walked forward, placing a caring hand upon her shoulder.

"You fought the best way you could, there is no shame in surviving" said McGillis as he approached, helmet once again opened. Ashley's eyes widened as she caught sight of the armored blonde man.

"Oh, umm… Thank you, sir…?"

"McGillis Fareed. Fareed will suffice"

"Well… Thank you, Mr. Fareed"

"Alright, let's focus" said Sheppard, though her tone was still soft and calming. "Chief Williams, I think we all already know who's attacking, but I want you to confirm it for us"

"Ma'am, I can confirm what you've seen so far, they're Geth"

"The Geth haven't been seen outside the Veil for 200 years, why would they come here, and now of all times?" added Kaidan with a hint of uncertainty.

"You've mentioned a beacon, correct?" asked Isurugi, eyeing his soldiers as they moved to the impaled man and hacked down the structure with their swords. "If they were interested in it, it would be a good reason to attack"

"Well the dig site is close. It's just over that rise, it might still be there… I'm sorry, who are all of you again? Never seen anyone wear a mech before" added the chief with apprehension, her gaze shifting between the two armored figures ahead of her, and the approaching green ones carrying the body of the unfortunate colonist. McGillis faced his soldiers, then calmly turned to look down at the woman.

"Consider us an… Interested party" was all the general said before turning to talk with his own men. Ashley and Shepard watched him go, before facing one another again.

"You up for some more fighting, Chief? We could always use the help"

"You bet, Commander. Time for a little payback" growled out Williams, yet the doubt did not leave her glare directed at the mech-like soldiers. "Still… You think we can trust them? No offense but… They don't look like Alliance personnel, or any other group I know". The commander let out a low chuckle before patting the other woman on the shoulder.

"I know the feeling, Chief. But they've proven reliable so far, and they seem to be… Lost? And I wanna find out more about that part"

"Well… I suppose you're right, ma'am"

"Good to hear. Kaidan, you ready to go?", yet when Shepard turned, he was not next to them anymore. He instead was off to the side near the rocky walls, kneeling beside the dead colonist and carefully crossing the deceased's hands over the impaled chest. Around him, the Gjallarhorn soldiers stood vigil, heads bowed down in respect. A quick moment of silence, and they all moved back towards the group.

"Sorry, commander, ready to go now" said the biotic, his face a mask of cold fury and resolve. Shepard stared at him for a moment, before giving a short nod.

"We'll give them peace, Kaidan, don't worry". She then turned towards McGillis and his men. "And while I appreciate the enthusiasm, I think it'd be better if you stuck to a firing line with us… No offense". To her surprise, the general actually chuckled at that comment, and waved his hand dismissively.

"None taken, commander. It seems our idea of warfare differs quite a lot from yours"

"Yeah about that, I feel like I should ask now rather than later… Do those use bullets?" asked the commander, pointing towards their guns. McGillis slightly hefted the weapon in his grasp, turning the drum magazine outwards so she could better see it. A careful crank ejected one unspent cartridge, which the general expertly caught mid-air. He lowered the bullet for her to see, the golden projectile glinting what little light crossed the dark skies. Just behind, one of the soldiers pulled the ammo clip from his bazooka, showing the warheads stored inside. "Wow… Didn't think anyone still used those"

"What ammunition do your weapons use?" inquired Isurugi. This time it was Shepard who raised her gun, carefully sliding a few parts on her Crusader to reveal the solid metal block inside it.

"Not ammo in the usual sense. We use mass effect fields to shave pieces of this, and fire it as relativistic speeds. Infinite ammo, at the cost of the weapon heating up fast when firing"

"Hmm… Interesting… But very well, we'll follow your lead now"

"Alright… Move out, people"

**-O-**

Orga had been in quite a few battles. He might have never gotten to pilot a Mobile Suit in combat before, but he had always gone into fights aboard his trusted Mobile Worker. Always commanding his men from the front, relaying orders and maneuvering troops right in the thick of it. He battled Gjallarhorn troops in Edmonton and during an orbital drop onto Arbrau territory, pirates inside a debris field and in a three-way battle in a race against the Arianrhod Fleet to capture Sandoval Reuters. He even fought an army of genocidal, soulless machines hellbent on wiping out all life. Suffice to say, few things could surprise Orga Itsuka and Tekkadan nowadays.

Robot aliens with flashlights for heads and mechanical, shrieking husks of corpses apparently made from dead colonists that discharged electricity all trying to murder the few humans they had found while crossing through the city streets were certainly one of those things.

And this was the situation he and the Tekkadan remnants found themselves on. A firing line charging the street, shields raised whenever they dashed from cover to cover and firing back at the weird robots. The Shidens kept forward, Orga joining beside them alongside Amida, while the two Garm Rodis kept pace from behind, their heavy machineguns making the air thick with suppressive fire. Just as Orga peered from cover to fire, a sniper shot from somewhere above slammed against his shoulder, pushing his entire body back.

"Dammit!" he growled out, quickly kneeling back behind the fallen wall he had braced against. "Dios, get some fire up on those buildings, the snipers keep cropping up!"

"Yes sir!"

"Shino, Akihiro, new targets for you! Marked building, hit 'em hard!" he barked into his radio, raising one of his pistols over cover. A click on the side and a faint laser beam lit up, aimed towards the building the sniper. A few seconds later, and the top floor was smashed by artillery fire they never saw coming, the smoothbore shells and railgun rounds smashing the roof apart. Pieces of rubble and broken metallic bodies rained down onto the streets just as another band of husks rushed at them from another alleyway. An explosion cut the advance of several of them short, and Orga gave a brief glance to the side, just in time to see Amida lower her grenade launcher and replace it with her 100mm rifle, loosing focused bursts onto the clambering mob. He gave a quick nod to her and rose from cover to join on the attack.

"Itagami, Marg, bring up the rear! Keep the pressure on them and don't let up!"

"Sir, yes sir!" came the reply from the Rodi duo, the heavy machines trudging forward with shoulder shields outwards even as glowing blue projectiles slammed against their armor. More robots charged down the street guns blazing even as reinforced slugs tore their strange shields and bodies to shreds. A larger one wielding a rocket launcher showed up on a window above, yet before it could even take aim, its entire body flew back away from the window, the faint smoke trail of a sniper round hanging in the air. Seconds later, an explosion went where the robot had been killed.

"Nice shot, Shino!" came the joyful cry from Lang, one of the Shiden pilots as he unslung his shotgun from the waist. With a mighty cry, he boosted off of cover and rushed the nearest enemy team. The robots let loose their guns, yet they barely registered to the boy inside the Nanolaminate armor of his suit. He squeezed the trigger thrice as he advanced, feeling the kick of the weapon against his arm as the heavy-duty slugs exploded outwards into the robots, tearing massive holes and ripping limbs apart. Lang racked the gun once more and readied to fire once more, when a black mass slammed onto him from the side. A growl escaped his lips as he tumbled to the floor, shield falling to his side and shotgun sliding off his hands and away from his reach. His vision came back just in time to see his attacker standing over him.

It looked just like the other robots in general, but bigger and painted black with two yellow lines. It towered over him, looking down with that singular glowing lamp eye. The robot peered at him for the briefest of moments before hefting its own shotgun at him, aimed straight towards his face. Time slowed to a crawl for Lang, his Alaya-Vijnana letting him see the robot's finger closing in on the trigger…

" _Heads ups!_ "

An explosion blasted against the robot's entire torso, covering it in black smoke. Immediately after, a pink Shiden slammed its partisan through it, the blade carving straight into the machine's waist and out the other way. The Shiden grasped the shaft of the weapon and pulled sideways, goring the machine and nearly splitting it in two. It finished off by kicking the mangled robot away before holstering the weapon, pulling out its rifle and raising its shield, all in one swift motion.

"Don't go brain-dead out there, idiot!" cried out a female voice from inside the Shiden as it fired off its rifle and shoulder cannon at the remaining far away enemies. "I won't be around to save you every time"

Lang went to reply, but instead gave a slight glance to behind his savior, grasped his own partisan and with a shout, threw it like a javelin. The weapon buried itself on the torso of the trembling but still alive robot the pink Shiden had cut down as it tried to raise its own weapon up. The machine near disintegrated from the attack, its arms flying off into the sides. The pink Shiden looked at the destroyed mech in surprise, before turning back to Lang.

"And you need to learn to finish off your target, Rita!" bit back the boy as he rose from the floor. The shotgun was still far, so he opted instead for his rifle, pulling it from his holster and picking up his shield from the floor. He joined the girl in firing against the nearest enemy team. That's when yet another blur moved past them, rushing straight towards the four closest enemies.

Both Tekkadan pilots watched amazed as Amida Arca blasted forward, knife and rifle in hand. The Rouei dodged and weaved through the weapon fire, closing the distance even as she fired concentrated bursts from her weapon. She aimed for the furthest machine, the only one of the team wielding a rocket launcher and emptied the clip of the gun onto it. One shot slammed straight down the weapon's tube and hit the warhead inside, detonating the weapon and the robot's arms. The other three, apparently standard troops, continued firing even as the woman closed the distance and got up close to the nearest one.

She brought her knife, slamming it against its chest and burying the blade up to the hilt. She then let go, and turned towards the second one, its rifle up and ready to fire. She tossed her empty rifle at it, staggering the machine just enough for her to pull one of her handguns from her hip. An entire clip was unloaded onto the robot, the heavy bullets breaking the blue shields surrounding the alien and then its metal skin, breaking off chunks and splattering blue fluid everywhere. Only one left.

Amida pulled the knife from the first target and with one practiced motion, threw it straight at the last robot's head. It slammed tip first against its "eye" and once more went in up to the hilt. Amida boosted forward, sliding her knuckle guard over her free hand and slammed it against the robot's chest, burying her entire hand onto its torso. The robot shook and spasmed against her limb, blue "blood" flowing down her forearm before she pulled her enclosed fist out and retracted the knuckle guard to grasp at her knife, the blade coming loose with a low squelching sound. The limp body fell down as small sparks raced across it before collapsing onto a molten pile of liquid metal. She turned to face any more enemies, yet there were none. The robots were retreating from the streets, even as a few more sniper shots picked off stragglers. A few husks tried to rush the gathered suits, yet a few more shots were enough to smash apart the surprisingly frail bodies. Amida turned towards the two star-struck children still behind her, a smile spreading across her face even behind the Rouei's enclosed helmet.

"Keep sharp out here, kids, this is still all pretty new" said the mafia enforcer before quickly holstering the knife and pistol and moving to fetch her rifle from the ground. Rita and Lang stared dumbfounded at the downright casual display of skill the woman had just shown. They had never seen Naze Turbine's top enforcer in action before, and now that they had, it made them realize something very important.

That they had a _long_ way to go, and that Akihiro would grind them to a pulp come the next training session if he heard of this.

Their inner thoughts on any future pain and gain were interrupted by the sound of metallic footsteps approaching. They all turned to watch as Orga walked closer to them, weapon hanging at his side yet still in his grasp, followed closely by the rest of their suits. The white Shiden gave the three a knowing nod, before focusing on the two kids.

"Glad to see you two are as eager as ever for fighting" said the Tekkadan boss good naturedly, yet they could _feel_ his gaze on them the next second. "But that was too reckless. If Amida hadn't charged in when she did, it could have ended badly". Orga took a few steps forward, looming over the two of them…

Yet when his hands came down, they instead hoisted both up, the powerful pneumatics inside the Shiden's arms easily supporting the weight of the suits. Lang and Rita found themselves at eye level (or at least, visor) with their leader, yet they knew that behind the metal plate and visor, he was staring at them with that ever-present, caring look of his.

"You guys are the only family I still have left here…" he spoke softly, hands resting on their shoulder. "I don't want anyone else to die… So please, keep yourselves safe…".

"Orga…"

"Boss…"

Amida watched the whole thing unfurl, a smile splayed across her face. "Well Naze… You were definitely right about him since the beginning". Suddenly, her radar marked several unknowns approaching from the east, followed by the smooth yet loud sound of an engine approaching. From the side street, several men and women wearing sleek armor emerged with weapons at the ready, scouring the remains of the battleground. Behind them rolled in a large APC, its gun turret swiveling side-to-side as it also searched for targets. One of them, a taller figure with two white stripes on his shoulders and helmet, turned towards the gathered child soldiers and signaled his troops to stop.

"Orga, heads up, we got some friends coming over" called out Amida, holstering her rifle upon her back. Orga turned towards her and saw the approaching soldiers, motioning to all the Shiden to follow.

"Shino, Akihiro, pack it up and head to our position. Seems we're meeting up with the locals" he spoke onto the comm link, giving a moment to register the replies of "roger" from the Gundam pilots. And not a moment too soon, for the second he shut off the connection, he found himself facing the team of armored troops.

"Nice mechs. Wonder who they belong to" said one of the marines to the back, her eyes running up and down the Shidens.

"Mercs, maybe? They don't look like Alliance gear" said the one right next to her, the grip on his weapon still tight. "Those guns look ancient too…"

"They took out the geth, so… I guess they're friendlies" added the leader of the team.

"It's very rude to talk about someone when they're in front of you"

Orga watched in no small amount of amusement when his words made the entire team of soldiers jump, their eyes bugging out behind the visors as they stared at the white machine in front of them.

"D… Did that mech _talk_?!"

"I'm flying this thing remotely, helps with gathering data" replied the Tekkadan chief. Behind him, the other kids remained silent and just listened. Orga always had a plan or two for strange situations, this was probably one of them. They could play along. "Plus, better to see the result of the tests yourself, isn't that right?"

"Still, who do you work for? They don't look cheap at all, you guys some kind of mercenary group?" pitched in the female marine.

"PMC, actually. We're our own group, started out recently. Name's Orga Itsuka"

"Well, Mr. Orga—"

" _Lieutenant? Lieutenant Maros, come in!"_

"Ah, dammit… This is Lieutenant Maros, come in" said the team leader with a groan as he reached up to touch his helmet's radio.

" _Finally, we've been trying to reach you for ten minutes. What's your current location?"_

"We've just reached the main street of the western district. All clear, no geth still in the vicinity"

" _What? But we picked a major force approaching that location, they outnumbered you seven to one!"_

"We had-"

At that moment, the Gusion and Flauros jumped down near them, breaking the pavement with the sheer weight. The pink and brown Gundams walked over to the group, Shino giving a small wave before he noticed Amida's subtle gesture to stop and remain quiet.

"… Quite some help"

" _What was that sound?_ "

"It was nothing, everything's all clear. We're moving now to check for survivors"

" _Belay that, we just got new reports from the scouts. The geth are massing on the space port, we need to find out why. Your orders are to redeploy there and engage the enemy"_

"What?! This place's a mess, if we leave the people here, they'll end up dead before rescue teams arrive!" cried out the female marine, looking at her CO in shock.

" _You have your orders, soldier, we need to reclaim the space port and take out the remaining geth or more people will die"_

"We can't just—"

"I have a suggestion". Maros turned towards Orga, hand still upon his helmet as he peered into the armored unicorn-like mech. "Patch me through to him". The lieutenant stared at the white mech for a moment, then let out a weary sigh.

"I hope you know what you're doing, mister… Alright, you're up". Orga watched the frequency band appear in his HUD, the audio line representing the speaker wobbling slightly from faint background noises.

"Can you hear me?"

" _Who am I talking to?"_

"Orga Itsuka, leader of the Tekkadan PMC. We helped your troops in clearing out the geth"

" _This is Eden Prime Garrison Central Command, and while I'd be glad to hear you out, what is a PMC doing in Eden Prime? We didn't register any military contracted ships any time recently_ "

"We got here under the radar, didn't want anyone to start spying on the new mechs" replied Itsuka. It was not a very good lie and he knew it, but it was believable enough that he'd be allowed to offer help hopefully. He needed more intel on this place, and they were the first regular humans he had met.

And while he admired the lieutenant's attitude, they had yet to come across anyone survivors. Plenty of fresh kills, however…

Just another motivation for them all.

"… _Look, I'm willing to throw in a bit of trust, if nothing else than for the fact you've been shooting at the geth so far. We can't pay, but I'd be willing to throw in some good words to the brass"_

"That's good enough for me. Tell me what you need"

" _The geth are all gathering on the space port. Whatever they're planning, its bound to be important and very bad for us. Thing is, we need to scour the city for civilians and survivors, and we don't have enough people to do both"_

"And you want us to go face them?"

" _If you made it all the way here through the tin cans, then I'm sure you got enough firepower to fight them off. So, are you in?"_

"Of course, no doubt about it"

" _Good. I'm patching you the coordinates and directions for the spaceport. Be advised as well, Commander Shepard is on the ground as well and headed to your location. Just tell her you're acting under Eden Prime Garrison authority. Good luck out there, Mr. Itsuka"_

With a quick glance to the uploaded map sent by the military, Orga made a deliberately mechanical motion to his soldiers and fired up his Shiden's boosters and dashed further into the city, the rest of the troops following. They acted similarly robotic, locking up their servos to remain fully stilted even as they dashed away.

**-O-**

Maros watched them leave, before quietly ringing up command once more. "They've left"

" _Alright. And your scans?"_

"No eezo whatsoever inside those things, but there were energy readings from them, especially the more unique-looking ones.. And it was pretty scrambled, but we confirmed it: there were life-signs inside those"

" _So he's hiding information on those… Suits. Can you track them?"_

"Negative. The tracker we snuck in as they passed fried almost immediately after contact. Might have some kind of jammer, or maybe that weird energy source inside them"

" _Understood. We'll try to keep tabs on the group, but if we don't… Well, I don't think our employer will be disappointed with the info we already have. For now continue your mission and keep looking for survivors"_

"Understood, Maros out"

**-O-**

The Tekkadan members waited until they had put some good distance from the human soldiers and had the cover of wreckage and buildings before cutting off their engines and landing upon the ground. Shino was the first to speak, holstering his sniper rifle onto his back.

"What the hell was that back there, boss? Who were those guys? And what was up with the lamp robots?"

"Never seen them before… Wonder if they got something to do with Mobile Armors" mused Akihiro off from the side, scanning the surroundings just in case. Orga, however, shook his head.

"No, they didn't look like anything we had back home. Their guns, the barriers they had… And those weird zombies, nothing adds up".

"Well, whatever they are and whoever they work for, we're in this neck-deep now" said Amida, calmly rotating the cylinder of her grenade launcher to check for damages. "No use in backing down now, right Orga?"

"Damn straight" said Itsuka, and his voice carried in it a cold yet very notable fury. "I don't know who they are, but what they're doing to the people of this city is unforgivable". He turned to his gathered pilots, letting the IFF do its magic and mark down every crewmate with a marker, T1 through 12. "How are doing in ammo and damages?"

"Suits are a-OK, boss, whatever they're shooting doesn't seem to work on Nanolaminate armor that well" said one of the kids further in the back. Tori, the electronic warfare operator. "Rockets seem to hurt just as much as the ones we're used to, though. One hit my leg and the integrity dropped by 6%"

"Everybody's down two or three clips in ammo for the rifles, the other weapons are good. Got a few less shells left on my shoulder gun though" said Rita, jostling said weapon lightly with her shoulder. "We might end up resorting to melee soon if the firefight's too intense"

"Same here, boss. I used up most of the smoothbore ammo, and Shino's down quite a few rounds on the sniper. I think it's better we join up the forward team now" pipped in Akihiro. He emphasized the last part by expertly pulling the halberd from its resting place and spinning it once around, while Shino grasped his hip-mounted machine guns eagerly. Orga looked at them all one by one, before nodding in agreement.

"Alright then. But we better cover our bases here. Itagami, Marg and Meer, I want you three to go back to the cave and check those boxes, I got a feeling we're gonna need them. Come back as soon as you can" he said as he pointed to the two Garm Rodis and another Shiden.

"Sir, yes sir!" they shouted in return, before quickly boosting away from the group and back towards the same place their suits had been found in.

"Alright, you lot, let's bag us some more aliens!" cried out Itsuka raising his weapon in the air. His cheer was met with a resounding reply from the remaining suits, Shino the loudest of them as he pumped both of his fists into the air, while Amida simply smirked and twirled her knife upon her hands. Yet as they resumed their dash towards the spaceport…

" _Orga"_

"Mika? What happened?". Mikazuki had been silent for quite some time ever since he got sent solo onto the front. Hadn't even called up during the firefight. "You took a while to radio in"

" _Mm. Just hadn't found anything interesting before"_

"What about the robots attacking the place?"

" _Yeah, found a few of them, smashed them up. But I found something else too"_

"Really? What was it?"

" _A really big bird"_


	3. Chapter 3

As he boosted from hill to hill ever onwards looking for enemies, one thought kept returning to Mikazuki's mind.

How boring it had been so far.

He had heard the comm chatter coming from Orga and the rest of their squad, about the weird machines that were attacking humans, yet when he encountered a few piling some corpses in isolated pockets of housings they proved no challenge whatsoever. Their weapons didn't even manage to nick Barbatos' armor, and they all moved so slow and janky that dodging was too easy. And they fell surprisingly quick too, just a few shots from the 200mm wrist guns were enough to break those weird shields they had and then their bodies, and hits from his sword mace made them tear and break like tinfoil. It was a far cry from even a Graze's standard Nanolaminate plating, and those were mass-produced machines meant for quantity over quality. At least when he hit those they had the pride to stay (mostly) intact after he go through with them. Hell, even the napalm-loaded rounds made them bend but not break, but here his guns seemed blatantly overkill. Mika was glad he didn't grab the smoothbore he was so used to, it would have been overkill.

Not that he really minded that. Orga probably would, however.

He hoped Orga was fine…

His thoughts drifted to what he had told his longest friend not too long before. How he had died, just like everyone else around. But he didn't tell him the whole truth. He didn't tell him how Gjallarhorn bombarded them from orbit with Dàinsleifs, how their entire home was wiped from the map mercilessly. How he and Akihiro fought to their death against the mobile suits even at death's door, how he pushed Barbatos one final time to its absolute limit and fought like a cornered beast and tore an unholy path through Gjallarhorn…

He didn't even know if everyone else had managed to leave the tunnels before the bombardment…

… He hadn't managed to say goodbye to Atra or Kudelia… He wondered if they were fine, or if his baby had been born…

His thoughts were jarred back into reality when Barbatos' radar marked unknown contacts to the northeast, about five hundred meters. With a quick twist of his body, Mika fired off towards the marked contacts, kicking off the hills in long jumps. Once closer, he stopped just short of the settlement where he found the contacts at and gazed down at the metal-laden location.

He saw what seemed like pre-built shelters spread throughout it, and tons of crates stacked further back. Metal walkways lead into what he saw now was an even more expansive complex that went off into the distance, with metal spires jutting from the ground. Further away he saw the weird squid still on the same spot, blaring out that heavy mechanical horn that thankfully was filtered by Barbatos' audio receptors. And down below, he saw the two life signs. And they looked pretty weird.

They looked like big birds.

Not like the Mobile Armor he fought before, though. It was just their head shape, and the way their legs bent backwards really reminded him of the chickens Old Lady Sakura kept around her home. Didn't have feathers though, and they were wearing armor, one grey and the other red and black. The first looked… Weird, though. He had bits of machine on his face, and even some in his torso, just like the robots he found before. They seemed to know each other, though, since they seemed to be talking with one another mostly calm going by the way they stood so close to one another, before the red and black bird turned his back. Mika made to turn away as well…

And then he heard the faint sound of a gun being fired, and then turned back to the sight of the grey bird pointing a gun at a now dead human before turning his gun to the other bird.

Mika made a decision.

**-O-**

Nihlus let out quick, controlled breaths as he dashed forward through the colony, hands clasped around his shotgun. He vaulted over rocks and small crevices, the jump jets in his armor giving him just the boost he needed with every action. He crouched down beside a boulder, carefully scanning his immediate surroundings for any Geth, before allowing a brief moment of respite to himself, and time to think about his current intel.

Ever since he had dropped onto the colony, he had found a few straggler groups of Geth, and no survivors. He did find "humans", if those shambling corpse-like creatures could even be considered that. Those… Husks, or whatever they were, that the Geth seemed intent on turning the colonists into. He had made to contact Shepard about them, but relented when he realized that if he had encountered the hostiles, then so did the commander. And from his quick glance to the monitoring unit he and Anderson had secretly placed on her armor, she seemed to have encountered some _interesting_ company. That is, if the extreme interference hitting it was from the new arrival, and not the unknown ship currently wreaking havoc on their comms.

He had tried to reach the Normandy more than once, yet the transmissions were barely there. So ground-to-space was out of question, but at least ground-to-ground was still in play. Whatever the Geth were planning, they were more worried with the signal getting off-planet than they were with the humans inside it.

Yet what _were_ the Geth doing here? They never showed any interest in leaving the Perseus Veil before, let alone raid a human colony in the edge of the Traverse and Terminus system. And this unknown tech they were wielding… The machine-like corpses, the spikes that created them, the massive dreadnought landed on the main spaceport… Even with all their advancement, this simply didn't add up. Something else was going on, and he needed to find out quick.

He quickly adjusted his grip upon his shotgun, checking the stability of the heat sink and ammo block inside it, before moving on to the fuel cells in his armor's booster units.

"Break their ranks when advancing, cut them down when retreating" he muttered under his breath, his mandibles quirking into the closest thing possible to a smile. Even after he became a Specter, the motto of the 26th Armiger Legion still ringed fresh in his mind whenever he found himself in combat. Flashes of his training and subsequent deployments crossed his mind, before they shifted into the few times he talked with his mentor, how he encouraged him and even helped him along when times called for it. He hoped for his safety…

But this was not the time. He needed focus.

With all gear checked, Nihlus boosted away from the boulder and continued his dash towards the spaceport, his gaze always flickering to his radar. Grass soon gave way to metallic plating, and Nihlus found himself approaching the pre-fabricated buildings that the humans insisted in always bringing. The turian grimaced and reached to touch the helmet's built-in radio as he caught sight of the charred or bloodied corpses abandoned on the ground.

The _many_ corpses.

The gunfire that he now could pick up in the distance was not a good sign either.

"Shepard, just made it to the spaceport. A lot of bodies here"

"Copy that Nihlus, we found casualties too. No survivors yet" came the somewhat garbled voice of the commander, just enough that he could make it out.

"Be advised, I can also hear some intense gunfire in the distance. I'm going to check it out, over"

"Copy that, over and out".

The fact that she had not mentioned anything about encountering unknown third parties did not pass him unnoticed, though he wrote it off as simply other pressing needs. They had chosen Shepard for her skills, decision making had been one of them… At least, most of them.

Nihlus ran past the grisly sight of the massacre, quickly dodging the debris and limbs in his path and ever closer to the spaceport. What stroke him as strange, however, was the lack of any Geth in the vicinity. Why would they leave so many bodies behind, considering their obsession so far?

His radar pinged a contact further forward, just after the entrance to the spaceport. Singular, moving very slowly.

Not a good sign.

Nihlus crouched down behind a small plate, his shotgun already primed and ready to fire. He checked his radar one last time, making absolutely sure he was alone with the contact, and swung his weapon over his cover…

"… Saren?"

"… Nihlus"

Before his entire body locked up at the sight of someone he hadn't seen in forever.

Saren Arterius. Turian Specter, and his mentor.

The older Turian just stood there, arms to his side and deep-blue eyes peering intently at the younger Specter. His armor, dull grey and black made him look even more lithe than normal, and contrasted with the large black-and-orange Predator pistol upon his hip, and the cybernetics upon his mandibles that Nihlus was more than sure he did not have before.

The fact that he even was here baffled him even more.

"This isn't your mission, Saren. What are you doing here?" asked Kryik, lowering his gun and walking closer to his old comrade. The older Specter walked closer and placed a hand upon his old trainee's shoulder, giving it a gentle pat.

"The Council contacted me while you were enroute here. They thought sending extra back-up would be… Prudent" he stated with the utmost calm, before walking past Nihlus to gaze at the horizon. "It would seem they were correct". The younger turian stared over his shoulder at his mentor, before turning back to gaze at the reddened skies. It was the answer he expected Saren to give, based on how much he knew him. It felt reassuring.

Too reassuring.

"I wasn't expecting the geth here" said Nihlus, gazing off into the hills in the distance. "The situation's bad…"

"Don't worry" came the reply from Saren behind him. "The situation will be under control. I'll make sure of it". A moment of silence passed, and Nihlus made to reply, when a strange sound reached his ears. It sounded very much like something lightly shuffling around.

Followed by the sound of something large falling to the ground near them.

"Saren, did you hear—" yet when Kryik turned around, several things hit him at once, and stalled his mind.

The first was the sound of a gun discharging right in front of him. Said gun being in the hand of his mentor, Saren Arterius, and pointed towards a human, a gruesome hole upon his head dripping blood and grey matter onto the floor and body slumped lifelessly against the crates he had been hiding behind.

The second was his cold dead stare, machine-like, something Nihlus had _never_ seen in him, even as the veteran Specter turned the gun towards his pupil and aimed straight at his head.

The third, was when the world exploded between them.

Metal, stone and dust kicked up in massive amounts, the shockwave of whatever impacted the ground throwing both Nihlus and Saren back and onto the ground. Small pieces of rock pelted Nihlus's head, and he placed a hand over his face for protection. His shotgun flew from his grasp and fell somewhere to the side, he couldn't exactly tell where, but now he was down one weapon against… _Whoever_ was attacking.

And as the dust settled, and both Nihlus and Saren managed to push themselves back up, they stared at what had caused the explosion.

It was… A sword.

At least, in the general sense. It was massive, longer than either of them and with a blade thick enough that it was more akin to a club, and almost jet-black in coloring. It was buried deep onto the ground, the crater around it a mess of broken stones and bent metal, pieces of rubble still falling around it. Yet before either could even question the strange weapon, something _else_ slammed onto the ground next to the weapon, kicking up yet another cloud of dust and debris, yet even through it the turians could see the figure now standing between them.

It was humanoid, yet with legs bent not unlike their own. Clawed hands grasped at the handle of the buried weapon, and flames slowly died out on its back, legs and shoulders as boosters shut off. It took a moment for them to register the figure as a machine, only unlike the geth and their organic curves, this one had far more angular plating covering its body. Two yellow horns rose from its head, and glowing green optics shone brightly. Two cannons were strapped upon its arms, and a very long katana hung from its back. It was unlike anything they'd ever seen before.

And they soon noticed, it was glaring _murder_ at Saren.

To his credit, the older turian reacted quickly, jumping towards his fallen pistol just to his side. His arm stretched, fingers just short of the gun...

In one fluid motion, the unknown mech blasted forward and drew its sword, the white and black blade blurring in the air…

_SLASH_

"EEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH!"

Saren screamed in pain and reeled back, his left arm flying off and spurting blue blood all around and hand still gripping his Predator pistol. The mech's sword dug into the ground as the mech quickly let go of it, aiming both arm cannons at the crippled Specter. Saren was quick to react, gritting his mandibles and lifting his remaining arm towards the unknown enemy. A glowing blue barrier spread from his palm and opened into a wide dome even as the shells slammed against it, buckling his protective shield. The machine seemed to realize its attacks were fruitless, and quickly grabbed its sword once more, but Saren was faster. With another flick of his hand, the barrier collapsed, the energy coalescing into a ball upon his palm before he quickly "threw" it forward. In a flash of blue, the mech went completely still, its body locked in place by the same energy. Nihlus quickly recognized it.

Stasis.

Kryik immediately shot up, reaching towards his Avenger before pointing it straight at his mentor. "Saren, stop right there!". Yet the old turian simply growled, pulling a small hexagonal device and pressing down on it. Almost immediately, a shimmering blue shield expanded ahead of Saren, forming a wall of hexagons between him and his attackers. Nihlus opened fire with his rifle, but his rounds impacted the shield wall with no effect. And as Saren retreated, nursing the massive bleeding hole that once was his left arm, Nihlus spotted several figures dashing towards them with guns at the ready.

Geth.

Several trooper types, a few shock troopers, even a Destroyer-type rushed headlong towards him and the mech, dodging past and around Saren as he strode slowly away, his amputated limb disintegrating into dust. Nihlus let out a low growl before rushing towards the paralyzed mech. He touched the left side of his waist, allowing a small hidden compartment to open and a small, gun-metal cylinder to pop out. Once close enough, he took the device and rammed it into the mech's nape. The small eezo unit inside came online in an instant and deftly applied its single-use mass effect field, quickly calculated to be the same strength yet opposite effect of the biotic power currently in place.

Nihlus silently thanked the spirits at having been paranoid enough to pack a biotic countermeasure unit even in a previously-stated peaceful mission.

The mech jerked in place, the mass field keeping it trapped fizzling out in a blue flash. It turned to gaze at Nihlus in what he realized was a far too human gesture, before turning towards the club the turian assumed belonged to it. It gripped the handle of the weapon and yanked on it, ripping the entire thing from the ground, before turning to face the oncoming Geth. Nihlus stood beside it, slowly holstering his shotgun before throwing his arms outwards. From each wrist, two orange blades materialized around his hands, dangerous-looking claws were flash-forged by the twin omni-tools, the blades crackling dangerously.

"Break their ranks when advancing, cut them down when retreating" he growled out, taking up a martial stance. Beside him, the mech gripped his club with both hands and slung it over its shoulder, knees bent and ready to push forward. Both stared at the oncoming mechanic troops, ever so steady…

When the first geth reached the barrier, and the blue hexagons melted away from existence, Specter and Gundam _moved_.

Both figures, pushed forward by the boosters in their armors, barreled towards the approaching geth squads even under fire. Kinetic barriers and Nanolaminate armor soaked up what few fire hit them, blue energy fields crackling with energy and white plating launching sparks from the impact. Barbatos, due to its far more powerful thrusters, reached the geth gunline faster than its impromptu turian teammate. It heaved the sword mace even further back, before swinging it forward with all the might the Mobile Suit's pneumatics would allow him.

Four geth basically ceased to exist from the waist up when the weapon collided with their torso, splattering metal and fluid into the air. Nihlus did not let it deter him, however. With just as much eagerness, and far more grace, he hoped towards the nearest geth and dug one of his omni-blades onto the robot's chest, shoving almost his entire hand into the synth. He hoisted the body up and turned, using it as a shield to weather away some fire coming from some shock troopers that had decided he was the easiest target compared to the mechanical monster that seemed to fight like a warrior from the ancient times of Palaven. Nihlus grabbed the Geth arm and twisted the limb around a full 180 degrees, pointing the pulse rifle at its own kind. With a quick squeeze of the trigger, Nihlus rained down pulse shots at the two oncoming robots, blasting the shields and plating beneath them before a small explosion on each chassis torn apart their internal circuitry and dropped both geth onto the floor. Nihlus quickly planted one foot upon his meat shield and slid a grenade from his waist, priming the circular explosive with a quick click. He rammed the grenade onto the geth's head and kicked it off his arm, adding on a burst of his leg booster for good measure. The body went flying into another incoming trooper, bowling over both bodies and dropping them onto the floor just seconds before the explosive stuck to the synthetic-turned-projectile exploded, ending two more threats.

Only a few more dozen to go.

The next moments passed in a blur to Nihlus as he immersed himself in combat, sometimes in melee range with his omni-blades, sometimes shooting at far-away troops with his rifle. He fired until his weapon overheated, slashed until the blades broke, even expended all his grenades when needed. Yet the geth did not relent on their assault. They had even brought in snipers on the towers above, taking potshots with weapons Nihlus did not recognize, but also realized quite quickly he did not want to be hit with, with him returning fire with his own rifle. Yet for all the fury he put forward in his anger for Saren's betrayal and against the machines, what he did to the geth paled in comparison to the mech next to him.

It moved fluidly, _too fluidly_ , dodging and weaving around geth with impunity, what little gunfire pelted its armor seemed to have little to no effect as the machine carved into the synths with brutal efficiency. Its arm-mounted gun spat bullets ( _actual_ bullets, Nihlus realized to his utter bafflement) with deadly precision, purple and yellow smoke wafting on every body hit. It swung its large club with impunity, even using it as a makeshift pole to jump enemies. Even its hands seemed deadly weapons by themselves, claws digging into the metal shells of the geth with impunity, tearing limbs and punching holes where organs would be in a living being. Every takedown was methodical, analytic, calculated.

Yet it all felt too human to him. There was something more to this mech, and he wished for the answers.

 _After_ he tore the answers from Saren, even if he had to take his remaining arm for it.

Nihlus shoved both his blades onto the chest of the geth soldier ahead of him with a guttural growl, watching the machine writhe and convulse just in front of him before its self-destruct system kicked in, flash-frying and melting all circuitry inside it. The turian pulled his arms out, the omni-blades once more breaking under stress, only this time it was followed by the alarm sounds from his omni-tools warning of overheat damage. With a disgruntled growl, he twisted his wrists and allowed both devices to shut-off, his eyes flickering to his shield meter also flashing with the word OVERHEAT. Not having his omni-tools would hamper his capabilities, and he'd certainly have to check the kinetic barrier emitter before continuing, but he'd make do. He turned to the side and gazed at the mech, just in time to watch in amazement as the mech grasped the last geth around them, one hand around a leg and one on the "neck", and tore the machine into two parts, tossing each part far away.

Nihlus had never seen something fight like this. Maybe now was time for some questions. He took a step forward…

Right before an absolutely _searing_ pain tore through his lower torso, spitting flash-fried flesh and molten metal spurted out onto the ground. In the few moments his consciousness held together amongst the burning sensation that coursed through his every nerve, he watched the mech tear off a large piece of the floor and throw it into the distance. As his body turned with the fall, Nihlus saw the metal square bisect a damaged geth sniper in the tower that had survived by an inch, its still-smoking rifle falling uselessly to the side. Yet it had served its purpose. With a thud, Nihlus hit the ground, the smell of his own burnt flesh wafting through the air. Blood flooded from his throat onto his mouth, before he coughed it out desperately to clear his airways. He needed to apply first-aid, he had to…!

Yet his hands trembled too much, and his arms were too weak. Even after all his training, all his conditioning, he couldn't muster the strength necessary. His med-kit was in his back, thankfully opposite where the shot had hit, fully loaded with medi-gel, anesthetics, laser suture and artificial blood , yet he could not reach it.

But he had to. He had to live. He had to reach the Council, tell them of what Saren had done…

He had to help Shepard.

A shadow fell over his body, and Nihlus could barely make the gleaming white body of the mech that fought with him. He gazed upon the near demon-like machine that seemed to peer down at him. Human-like.

 _Too_ human.

It was now or never.

"M… My m-med…k-k-kit…" gargled the turian, blood spurting from his mouth and staining his mandibles. He shuffled with what little strength he had left, trying to point to his right side with any motion he could. The mech kneeled down, its gaze never leaving his own, before a hiss of steam released from around its head, and the entire collapsed open.

Nihlus felt what little breath he still had trying to escape him. He knew the machine was far more than that, and in the back of his mind, he had pictured that it was more likely to be a suit of armor. But he had expected a soldier, an adult, someone meant for war, in a twisted sort of war.

He did not expect a child to gaze down at him, his light blue eyes peering down with an unnerving sense of passiveness.

**-O-**

Mikazuki didn't quite know what to say.

Quite literally.

When he arrived to help the red-and-black bird, it was mostly out of impulse. He saw someone betraying someone else, and he decided to step in. Its what he would have done back on Earth, when Radice betrayed them to Gjallarhorn. He didn't expect the grey bird to be involved with the machines. At least he managed to help out during the fight.

Being stuck on that weird blue field had been strange though. Reminded him of when Barbatos stopped moving when it first saw the Mobile Armor.

But now the bird had gotten shot by a robot they didn't properly kill and was trying to tell him something. Probably. He only heard a few gargled clicks and hisses, like the alien expected him to understand him.

Maybe Orga could help?

He sent the impulse signal down his AV implant, and in an instant Barbatos had called up his friend's frequency, and even faster had already linked up to him. "Orga" he called out calmly.

" _Mika? What happened?_ " came the question from the otherside, the young man's voice somewhat strained from the fighting. " _You took a while to radio in_ "

"Mm. Just hadn't found anything interesting before"

" _What about the robots attacking the place?_ "

"Yeah, I found a few of them, smashed them up" he replied matter-of-factly. True, the robots had been weird, but not really interesting. They just looked a bit different from the Mobile Suits he was used to smashing up. "But I found something else too"

" _Really? What was it?_ "

"A really big bird".

The comm line went silent for quite a few moments, before Orga very slowly and calmly piped up again. "… _A bird?_ "

"Yeah. Not like the Mobile Armor though, like… A chicken?" he replied, eyeing down the alien. He still seemed conscious, but then he remembered the injury. "He got shot while I helped him out in a fight. What should I do?"

" _Dammit… Alright, can he talk?_ "

"Yeah. But I don't think I can understand him"

" _Alright… If he's a soldier, he's gotta have a med-kit somewhere on him. Check it out"_. Carefully, Mika moved the bird's body around, looking for anything that reminded him of a first-aid kit. He saw some folded weapons, an utility belt, boosters…

There. In his right side, a small box stashed away behind some plating was a metallic box with a red cross in it. That should be it.

Mika pulled the box slowly from it, careful not to aggravate the injury, yet the fact the bird had stopped moving made him realize time was short. He opened the kit's clasp and threw the lid open, carefully eyeing its contents. Several devices were inside, all of them foreign to him. "Orga, I don't know what these do"

" _Can't you see anything familiar? Anything at all, a suture or pads!"_

"No, nothing at—"

… **Mikazuki…**

"… I know what to do"

" _Mika?_ "

"I know what to do, Orga" reaffirmed the boy, quickly beginning to work.

Medi-gel dispenser, anesthetic, laser suture, artificial blood, medical monitor...

Mika worked fast and clinically, carefully measuring the strength in Barbatos' manipulators as he worked each tool. Insert the monitor's needle into the neck, apply medi-gel to the injury to disinfect and halt the bleeding, inject the artificial blood to supplant all the lost one, anesthetic to numb whatever pain there still was, laser suture to close the wound as best as possible. The soft beep of the monitor kept trace of the very faint pulse of the alien. It was weak, faint, still in danger.

But it was a pulse.

Mika didn't really notice how long he spent taking care of the bird man. Time became sluggish to him, his body moving on automatic as he did his best. And all throughout, he kept hearing the instructions from the voice speaking soothingly to him.

A voice he knew for quite some time now.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mika stood back up and gazed down at the injured alien. The injury was still bad, and he had to be moved to an actual medical facility, but he'd live. Good.

Mika closed up Barbatos once more before allowing himself to relax and tune back to Orga. "Orga, I got the bird healed up. But he's gonna need help"

" _Good job, Mika_ " came the reply from the radio, the faint sound of wind rushing past and of boosters burning. " _We're headed towards the spaceport now, we might be able to rendezvous later on but I can't double back. McGillis might be closer though, you might be able to ask for help from him"_

"… Yeah, I think I can do that"

" _You know his position?_ "

"STOP RIGHT THERE, RAISE YOUR HANDS!"

"… In a way"

**-O-**

Combat so far in this place had been… Interesting.

After linking up with Chief Williams and heading towards the dig site where the beacon had been, Commander Shepard, Lieutenant Alenko, McGillis and his troops had engaged the geth forces located there. It hadn't been a difficult fight, and the general was now certain that the common weaponry utilized here was of very little effect against Mobile Suits, even when diminished to this size. Conversely, their own weapons inflicted quite some damage. After the firefight, he had posited that since mass effect barriers were made to deflect very small projectiles several times, when a high-mass object such as a rifle shell came into contact with the barrier, the shield could not put enough power in deflecting such a large object, relatively speaking, and thus broke far easier.

The fact that sometimes those large-mass objects turned out to be swords and axes was a somewhat tangential argument.

Though she had requested that they remain upon long-range, McGillis soon pointed out that his own options for long range were limited to his rifle only, and that Isurugi also possessed only one ranged capability. It took some arguing, but she indeed relent in the end. It came as a relief somewhat to him. He was far more comfortable fighting with his swords.

As Agnika Kaieru once did.

And as he fought, McGillis took in every information that combat offered: formations, tactics, abilities and equipment, whether from foe or friendly. He was intrigued by the abilities displayed by Lieutenant Alenko, biotics he'd called them, and by the plethora of gear attached to the commander's armor. It seemed combat had remained upon the strength of the individual soldier in this world. Perhaps, had Mobile Armors not become a reality, maybe the Mobile Suit would have never come to play.

Just as perhaps that the beacon could have been moved beforehand. Which it had been. Ashley wondered where it could have been moved to, and Isurugi had posited that either the geth or colony defense forces had moved it further in for extraction or defense respectively, so the group had set out further into the colony to locate it. But not before they came across what became of the colonists that have suffered impalement by the hands of the geth.

They had thought at first that it had been a tactic of intimidation. Something coldly calculated, that the grisly display of the dead would lead to a drop in morale and combat effectiveness. But it had been far, far worse.

As they passed more of the metal spikes the robots seemed to have brought with them, several retracted and brought down the bodies upon them. Then the bodies charged them.

They might have been human once, but not anymore. Their skin had become metal, limbs withered to near-skeletal proportions and cybernetics jutting out haphazardly all throughout their forms. Vacant, glowing blue eyes and open mouths with tubes running out of them. The stiff shambling as they began to charge the gathered humans. Whatever they were, they had become less than animals in thought.

Ashley and Kaidan hesitated.

Shepard and the Gjallarhorn troops did not.

Aria had been quick to begin mowing down the horde. She pulled back her left arm, feeling the mechanism load up with explosives. It was an ingenious little thing, she openly admitted. A belt system fed cylinder-type grenades to her forearm, setting them parallel to the limb. One needed only to point the arm in the desired direction, and the catapult would launch the grenades where it was pointed for explosive results. While the standard grenade type adopted in the galaxy had been the disk-type explosive for ease of carry and use, the cylinder type allowed for a bigger payload and could be more easily modified. Aria's had been loaded with standard explosives, and they proved their worth in tearing apart the mechanical husks charging at them. Shots from the Avenger and the Phalanx on her off-hand added up to the carnage.

The Grazes and Bael, meanwhile, charged into melee straight away, weapons drawn and ready for combat. The Grazes were first to slam into the tide of mechanical dead, shields raised and pushing back against the clawing corpses. McGillis soared over the phalanx, firing his wing cannons at the closest targets before firing his boosters down, landing on and liquefying the husk directly below him. Isurugi followed closely behind, using his Schwalbe's claw to grasp another husk and flail it against the others. And as the two aces carved their path, the shield wall behind them broke off, diving into the fight. Behind them, Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley laid down as much cover fire as possible, firing into any husk that remained behind when the mobile suits piled through.

One Graze had the unfortunate honor of discovering that Husks were not simple corpses however. Just as he rushed one of the mutated humans, its body began crackling with electricity, before it let out a piercing howl and threw itself against the mobile suit. The Graze immediately halted his assault and slashed away with the sword, but it was too late. The moment the blade split the corpse in two, a dazzling explosion of blue lightning covered the machine.

And while the half-metal internals kept the soldier from turning into an impromptu lightning rod, it couldn't do the same to everything outside.

Namely, his rifle.

The soldier was quick to toss the weapon, yet still, not fast enough to get it away far enough. The electric energy reacted violently with the condensed napalm and gunpowder stored in the battle rifle, and with a brief crackle, the entire gun exploded in a flash of purple and yellow. Three husks around the weapon were vaporized, others were thrown off their feet, and the Graze itself recoiled from the force that washed over him.

Yet the sacrifice of his weapon worked to their advantage, for it managed to stagger the horde enough that the others managed to kill off the remaining husks.

Just at that moment, McGillis received a call from Geist in the WCS band: three Tekkadan suits had just arrived for pick-up of weapons and ammo, yet when the group had gone into the caverns for their munitions, they had reported finding far more equipment inside than it held previously. Isurugi was quick to offer going by himself to check, but the general instead told them all to go. While his aide seemed quite contrary to the idea, McGillis was quick to point out that if more surprises had shown themselves in the cave, they'd need more personnel to move it out. So indeed, reluctantly, Isurugi took their troops away, promising to report if anything had happened.

She did inquire on them leaving, but giving a quick reason and excuse served to quell her.

For now.

Still, McGillis was intrigued about these "husks" that attacked them. He knelt down to study one and washed Bael's sensors over it, yet it told him only what he already knew: any organic part inside the body had been turned into synthetic material, anything redundant removed and needed upgrades added. Nothing remained of whoever this person had been.

At least the Mobile Armors had the decency to simply wipe them out. This… Something was wrong. But thoughts for later. Soon, the party was on the move once again.

They had encountered survivors not much later, and the general allowed Shepard to handle the situation. It'd be better that a recognizable face be their savior, rather than an unknown machine that held no meaning to them. Bael was a savior to Gjallarhorn, not these people. They had told them of the geth attack, what had happened to the other colonists nearby, information on the beacon… Any question that Shepard put forward that the scientists could reasonably answer, they would.

McGillis admired this in the woman. Her charisma was infectious to those around her, even when fully clad inside her armor and with her appearance hidden. Her voice carried with it a weight of authority, but also the softness that showed that beneath the tales and the inevitable propaganda, there was a fellow human there. Someone to approach for your needs, that would stand by your side no matter what. The other scientist, Manuel, seemed… Off. He mumbled incessantly over destruction and the incoming apocalypse, and more than once Fareed caught sight of his fearful gaze towards him. That he looked like a demon probably did no favors to the scientist's psyche.

They had confirmed the group's suspicion at least: the beacon had been moved earlier in the morning by the colonists, and as far as the duo knew, it resided in the spaceport. Shepard had been quite pleased, to say the least. Nihlus was already there, so now they had a chance to link-up and help each other out of what she had named "a massive clusterfuck".

Working with her was… An experience.

That had been, give or take, ten minutes ago.

Just after, they had gone to check another locked habitat when what sounded like a miniature war erupted not too far from them, prompting the commander to forgo the shelter and rush when she realized that it was close to Nihlus' position. Fareed noted with curiosity that his radar had registered Barbatos' Ahab Reactor Signature at the location, so he put faith in the young Augus having control of the situation.

It was on their way there that they finally managed to see the unknown ship in its full, apocalyptic glory. Staring at it this close, McGillis felt something he had experienced only twice in his life: fear. Yet even now, staring at the behemoth of blackened metal clad in red clouds and lightning, something not unlike the demons once written about in the Pre-Disaster era, the horn that seemed to herald the end of the world that it bellowed, rising into the clouds with no visible propulsion, something else creeped in the back of his mind. He felt Bael tug at his mind, the Alaya-Vijnana giving a subtle hum as he laid eyes upon the machine.

Bael recognized it, whatever _it_ was, as an enemy. He had to be wary of whatever controlled such a monstrosity.

But not for now.

Now, McGillis watched quietly as Shepard and her squad mates rushed towards the spaceport below and pointed their weapons towards the white demon standing over an avian-looking alien laying on the floor atop a particularly large pool of blue blood.

Barbatos eyed them back carefully, before turning its gaze towards Bael, and its whole form seemed to slacken a bit. "Oh, Chocolate Guy is with you all" came the synthesized voice from the suit. Smart, McGillis thought, considering that this way he could at least hide his identity for the time being. Something told him they would not take kindly to how young some of his companions were.

Let it be said that the reply had its desired effect. All three stood in sheer confusion, briefly forgetting the fact they had what seemed to be a hostage situation in their hands, yet Shepard was quick to regain her composure.

"Identify yourself, _now_ " she commanded, her own synthesized voice doing nothing to hide the steel behind her words.

"Mikazuki Augus" he replied, before pointing one claw towards McGillis. "Chocolate Guy knows me". Shepard turned towards her newest acquaintance just in time to hear a soft chuckle from him.

"It is good to see you well, Mikazuki Augus. It seems I was not the only one to find company" he answered, motioning to the prone body. That seemed to jostle the memory of the others, Kaidan rushed towards the downed Specter, kneeling beside the still body and running his omni-tools over it, while Ashley scanned the surroundings with her rifle, carefully checking every fallen geth, though the look of awe as she gazed at some many mauled bodies made her thoughts clear. Shepard walked forward, keeping her shotgun lowered but still upon her hands.

"So, acquaintance of yours, Fareed?" she asked, turning her head ever-so-slightly at the general.

"Yes, though we do not belong to the same organization. But I assure you, he would not harm your friend so openly" he added, motioning to the fallen alien. "Though the tale behind that must be quite interesting one, correct?". Mika shifted lightly, before lifting the med-kit still in his hands.

"Mm. Another bird guy tried to shoot this one, so I went after him. Cut off his arm, but he got away when those robots showed up". That made Shepard's eyes widen beneath the helmet, yet her body remained still.

"Another bird? You mean another turian?"

"Yeah, I guess so"

"Then how did Nihlus end up… Like that?"

"Oh, a robot we hadn't killed properly shot him with a weird rifle, so I had to fix him up". At that moment, Kaidan stood up and returned to Shepard, his expression far more relaxed but still guarded.

"Commander, just checked up on Nihlus. He's stabilized but can't stay here. We need to get him to a medical unit soon" said the lieutenant. Shepard nodded, before turning to the white mech in front of her.

"So you've never seen a turian before, but managed to perform field first-aid to a grievously injured one, without any outside help?" she asked cautiously. Mika seemed to regard the question for a moment before giving a short nod and putting the med-kit down. Shepard herself peered into the Gundam's green optics for a second, before letting out a long sigh. "Well, crazier things have happened today… Let's see how's our radio. Shore party to Normandy, come in"

" _This is Normandy, go ahead Commander"_

"We've reached the space port, but Nihlus is down. We need a medi-vac at these coordinates ASAP"

" _Copy that commander, ETA is 2 minutes"_

"Commander!" yelled out Ashley as she ran back towards the group, weapon now stowed away in her back. "Just finished scouting, no geth left. I did find a body though"

"Turian?"

"Negative, human. Seems like one of the workers" she said, glancing back with a grimace. "Only one shot, to the head… Whoever did it had a very good aim, he was still between the boxes when I found him". McGillis turned towards the fallen alien, then to the geth remains strewn about before settling on the commander.

"Whoever it is, they are involved with the attack on the colony. Finding them would be quite beneficial"

"I know, but we still have to secure the beacon. This mystery turian is probably after it as well, so one thing will lead to the other. We need to keep pushing forward". She then turned to Mikazuki and stared up at the horned Gundam, green optics meeting blue visor. "Feel like giving a helping hand?". The boy gave it some thought, and made to answer—

" _Mika, do you read me?! We could use the help!"_

"Orga? What's happening?" he asked, shifting into his usual serious monotone.

" _We just got to the spaceport, the place is crawling with robots—Dammit, Colin, don't rush so far, you'll get picked off!—but they're dug in deep! I sent some pilots to fetch more weapons, gonna need some more firepower to break through here!"_

"Your troops might be delayed, Orga Itsuka" said McGillis, laying a hand on Barbatos' shoulder to establish a contact link. "Apparently something has appeared in the caves, so I sent my own troops to assess the situation"

" _McGillis? Dammit, so we're down that many Mobile Suits…_ "

"Correct. We did, however, manage to acquire some assistance…". The general motioned towards Shepard, who carefully stepped forward and laid her own hand upon Barbatos. She felt the sudden jolt run through her armor and the faint vibration on her arm from the connection but kept her composure.

"This is Commander Aria Shepard of the Systems Alliance. Your name is Orga Itsuka, correct?"

" _Commander Shepard? So I guess you're part of the group Fareed went to meet. Yeah, I'm Orga, leader of the Tekkadan PMC. I already helped out some of your military in the cities"_

"I appreciate the help. So now how about I return the favor?"

" _I'd definitely appreciate it! Oi Shino, lay down some cover fire, Akihiro you're clear to rush them!"_. Orga yelled out orders to his troops around him, and even through the comms the three could hear the sounds intense gunfire on the other side of the connection. " _Mika, I'm sending our coordinates over to you, can you lead them here?"_

"Yeah, I can" replied the boy, and two seconds later his radar opened up, marking up a path to the nine mobile suits comprising Orga's current forces. He then turned to McGillis and Shepard, careful to keep their connection. "You two can see it?" he asked, and received two quick nods in response. "Alright, we're heading your way Orga"

" _Glad to hear it, Mika, watch your back out there!_ " and with that, the connection cut out. All three backed away from one another, when the air was filled with the loud roaring of engines. From above them descended the distinct arrowhead-shaped form of a starship, its white hull still glistening even in the diminished lights of the colony. At its side, its name proudly emblazoned.

_SSV NORMANDY_

The loading ramp opened just as the ship lowered close to the ground, and Aria could already see a team waiting to receive their injured passenger. She turned to the prone form of the turian, his breathing still ragged, before gazing out further into the spaceport, Ashley and Kaidan already standing at the ready in front of her".

"We're moving out. Let's take our colony back"

**-O-**

Bleeding.

He was bleeding, injured, crippled, pained, dazed, and much more.

But he was alive.

Yes, alive would suffice. Alive meant useful. Useful meant life.

It's what he'd demand. It's what they'd demand.

And now, he had to prove his usefulness.

Surrounded by geth and human husks, dripping minute amounts of blood from his missing limb as he walked and hearing his servants erase the traces of him from every corner, Saren Arterius stared at his objective, not a few feet away from him. The Prothean beacon.

He had gotten one step closer. Yes, he had proven his usefulness, he'd prove it further.

He gazed upon the black pillar, floating upon the pitiful altar the humans had placed it upon, and stretched out his remaining hand.

"Show it to me… What your creators hid from their destiny… SHOW IT TO ME!"

It hummed into life, pieces shifting and revealing the green crystal beneath. The noise grew louder still, before an invisible force hoisted his body into the air.

And as the images streamed into his mind, he understood.

He had remained alive. He still had purpose to exist.

Which meant all was not lost.


	4. Chapter 4

"Out of the WAY, DAMMIT!"

Akihiro roared as he heaved the Gusion Halberd back, before lashing it out at the robot that had made the mistake of charging him. The blade dug onto the alien, tearing through alloy and circuitry as he continued the swing and tossed the mangled body far away. He barely heard the faint noise of it hitting a wall or floor, but he paid it no mind. Not as he emptied the current clips of his rifles onto the robots hiding out further ahead, ripping off pieces of metal and bodies alike.

And still it was not enough.

"Akihiro, get back!" came the cry from Colin, just in time for a hail of fire to pelt around him. Akihiro pulled back the halberd and placed the blade in front of his torso, feeling the strange bullets ping off the blade and his body. The Gundam pilot growled as he fired the boosters on the Gusion, letting the suit carry him off to the side and into cover. Just as he dodged, two explosive shells flew through the space he had just occupied before slamming into a rocket-wielding robot, detonating both it and the ammo it carried into a fireball that consumed the troopers beside it. "Good shot, Rita!"

"Yeah, better appreciate it, because I'm out!" came the disgruntled cry from the girl, the shoulder gun flipping onto her back as she took potshots with her rifle. "Dammit, how many more of these guys are there?!".

"It can't be that many, maybe they're just clustered together!" yelled out Dios, even as he tagged with Shino to rain down gunfire upon the enemy. The Flauros had long abandoned its spent sniper rifle, instead awkwardly maneuvering its hip-mounted machineguns around covers to fire.

"Still getting tired of these guys!" said Shino. He moved to aim at another far away sniper, when another shot slammed against his left arm. He cried out in surprise as the blue stream splattered against his armor, the heat licking at his forearm even under the protection. "Goddammit!". He swiveled around to aim at his attacker, just in time to see an explosion rock a small platform off in the distance.

Amida unlocked her grenade launcher's ammo barrel and saw all holes empty, before sliding it onto the back of her waist. "Running a bit dry here, Orga, any ideas?" she asked, turning to the white Shiden beside her. Orga himself crouched back behind the broken piece of wall they had hid behind with a curse, sliding off the spent clip of his weapon. The empty case disappeared in a blue flash, as all the others did before it, and he grabbed the second to last from his skirt armor. In his HUD, he saw three outlines for the clips in red digital shapes, one where he had just picked the magazine. In his HUD, he took notice of the counter.

_JEE-205 130MM RIFLE, 50/50 BULLETS, 1/7 CLIPS. RECHARGE TIMER: 6h00min/6h30min_

Two clips, one on the gun and one on his waist. It had been quite a shock the first time he went to reload, watching the clip vanish into thin air while the one he picked from his waist was replaced with a completely new one out of thin air. It was when he was on his fourth clip that they had stopped appearing, and the connection sprung in his mind: his machine could produce seven clips by itself, before needing to recharge. How? He didn't know, but at least it was something to let them keep going. It still had its limits though, going by how he could only fire one more before being forced into melee with his pistol and partisan. And the former only had one clip.

Orga cursed the fact he moved into this so unprepared. He should have checked the cave again for more supplies before heading out, or kept Itagami with them for at least one more gun, or even have looked for some weapons in the colony they could have used.

It was this oversight that had cost him his life.

It was this oversight that had cost him his family.

His hands tightened around the rifle's grip, metal grinding against metal, when he felt a weight on his shoulder. The boy turned and saw the Rouei's four eyes staring at him, and he could tell Amida was smiling beneath the helmet.

"Head in the game, boss. We got a fight to finish" she said with some cheek, firing off some rounds from her own gun from over cover even while staring at him. Orga stared at the four-eyed mask for a few seconds, before a chuckle escaped his lips. He propped the rifle over the wall as well and joined the former enforcer in returning fire. Measured shots, just like his troops would when fighting mobile suits, each bullet accounted for as he fired.

He supposed this was how things would always be, huh? From one battlefield to another, they were dogs of war. Orphans and human debris, fighting for survival in whatever damn battle they were thrown into, and expected to somehow live.

Bar the enemy being aliens, it was business as usual.

Only this time, it'd be different.

This time, he'd be ready. He'd make sure his family would live through anything thrown at them. They hadn't found the place they belonged yet, and damned he'd be if they died before it.

A loud crash sounded out further back, and Orga peered over cover to see the biggest alien so far charging at them.

Painted fully white and standing taller even some of their own mobile suits, the machine walked forward with a slow stride, hefting the biggest gun they had seen in the hands of the aliens so far, it let out a loud bass droning roar, its gaze turning to each of the covers the orphans had been hiding behind. It suddenly seemed to choose one, pointing its gun towards the broken piece of metal that Dios and Shino hid behind. The barrels slowly start to spun, and both pilots barely had time to boost out of the way before a blue torrent of shots blasted forth from the gatling, vaporizing the cover in seconds. It quickly shifted its aim to another target, this time at Rita, who also tried to dash out of cover, but the machine was faster. All she could do was raise her shield as the torrent of bullets slammed against the metal slab, the metal buckling wildly under the strain. The girl yelped as she was tossed back onto the floor, her shield pressed down against her body as an orange glow started to grow ever bigger on her only protection.

"Rita!" cried out Lang, yet he could do nothing as support fire came down on them from a tower above crawling with troops. Rita tried to push her shield forward, but the large machine trudged forward undaunted, pushing her even further back as its weapon fired unabated.

With a guttural roar, Akihiro dashed out towards the machine, his halberd already readied to swing. The robot halted its attack and quickly turned to face the oncoming threat, shifting the still-firing minigun towards the Gusion. The glowing slugs slammed against the Gundam's armor, launching sparks everywhere and even denting some of the thinner plates, but he pushed onwards, before quickly bringing the halberd forward in a devastating swing.

In the blink of an eye, the large robot let go of its weapon, a small arm unfolding from its backpack and grabbing a hold of the gun as it shut off, and brought both arms forward. It grasped the handle of the halberd just short of the blade slamming against it, the entire weapon shaking as both it and the Gundam struggled against one another.

"You… Give it a rest and die already!" screamed Akihiro as the two sub-arms in his shoulders let go of the rifles they held and started pummeling the alien. Yet each punch only made the machine's head swing side to side, and any body blows simply threw its body black slightly. The alien let out another garbled electronic roar, before pushing down on the Gundam's weapon, the taller robot looming over the brown mobile suit. "Ngh… DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME!" roared the boy as he flared the Gusion's boosters. Blue flames exploded out as the Gundam pushed back, the blade slowly digging into the white armor and dripping blue fluid.

Suddenly, the minigun folded over the alien's shoulder, its entire form shifting as it went. The shell split open, the six barrels combined into a singular one, and several heat sinks extended from the middle. The reformed gun aimed down, a glowing pulse slowly becoming brighter and aimed straight at Akihiro's head. The boy grit his teeth…

"Akihiro, pull back!"

"Back off, bucket of bolts!"

"Engaging the enemy"

Three wine-colored forms shot forward, the Shidens already wielding their partisans as they charged towards the Geth Prime. Two dashed in from the sides, blades aimed at the robot's armpits, while the third went straight towards the Gusion. In one single moment, all four made their move.

Akihiro reversed the boosters in his suit, the Gs almost smashing his body as the Gundam pushed itself onto the ground, allowing Tori to dash over him and swing her partisan at the shoulder-mounted gun's barrel. The weapon's aim went wide, the blue blast flying off towards a far off building and blasting a large chunk from the structure before the weapon was torn from the arm securing it and was thrown somewhere further away. Lang and Dios swung wide, burying their partisans from the alien's armpits up. Blue blood splashed out from the wounds, but the robot seemed not to care, its body lightly twitching but remaining upright.

It was now Akihiro's turn. With a growl, he shot himself up from the ground and reached back towards his waist. The shield at his waist turned sideways, a pair of handles extending from the bottom of them. One sub-arm grasped the newly-revealed handle and hefted it forward, allowing the Gusion to fully pull it forward. As it did, the metal shifted and reformed, and when Akihiro charged the still-standing machine, he was ready.

The Scissor Cutters were a brutally effective weapon. Drawing the most from the Gundam's twin Ahab Reactors, the arm conductors would almost triple the grip strength of the suit, and the cutting blades on it were reinforced to the limit of their hardness. The result was simplistic, if with a somewhat outlandish application, but with guaranteed lethal results.

The robot's armor creaked and groaned, garbled electronic cries coming from it as the internals were mashed together ever so slowly. Its arms grasped the blades, but there was no strength to pull them apart as Akihiro, with one last scream of defiance, snapped the weapon closed with all his might. With a deafening clang, the white giant was torn in two, the legs falling to the ground uselessly with the torso held up by the scissor blades and the partisans still buried inside it. With a grunt, they tossed the inert half onto the ground, the arms still twitching slightly before it went inert. The four pilots gasped for air, before a series of clicking sounds started echoing all around the port. The Tekkadan pilots all watched as the machine soldiers spasmed in place, the light bulbs in their heads flashing irregularly, before the bodies went limp.

Just for in the next second all of them stood rigidly up once more, all their weapons pointed at the now exposed pilots.

Orga watched in horror, already halfway through jumping from his cover to their rescue, their names caught in the middle of his throat as he made to scream…

When the nearest line of troopers seemed to melt under fire seemingly coming from the sky, with the remaining troops turning skyward and firing their rifles wildly into the air. The Tekkadan boss turned his head alongside their aim, looking for whoever had saved the exposed pilot

That answer came when an angel-like figure dashed into the tower crawling with snipers and smashed against the platform they stood on, sending bodies flying into the air, open to be hit by weapons fire from the figure's own weapon, and someone else's below. It was when the dust from the impact cleared that Orga managed to see the figure in full, its two red optics shining down peering at their enemies.

Bael.

Which meant…

A loud boom echoed to his right, and the Tekkadan forces watched as four figures dashed towards them from another walkway in the spaceport. Two of them looked similar to the soldiers they had met before, one with black and blue armor, and the other with white and pink one, wielding a shotgun and assault rifle respectively. The third figure was far more heavily armed, totting a shotgun that blasted apart chunks of whatever it hit and firing small rockets from their shoulder gun.

But it was the last figure that caught his attention. It blurred past the three, a flare of blue trailing behind it as it tore a bloody path through the robot gun line, bodies flying left and right mangled into pieces. And it was for a fleeting moment amongst the carnage that lasted only a few seconds, amongst the broken shells that sizzled and melted as their self-destruction sequences kicked in and synthetic blood pooling on the floor, that he saw them. The golden horns and metal mace that he had always made him relieved to see.

"MIKA!"

Barbatos' head turned towards him as the other kids cheered at the arrival of Tekkadan's Devil and the reprieve granted by it, before turning back towards the remaining synths. The aliens, however, seemed to come to a better decision, and what few troops remained quickly fell back further into the spaceport, though their movement looked somewhat stiff and spastic. But Orga let them go, he had more pressing needs at the moment. He waved a hand at the gathered suits for them to follow him, before calmly walking towards the approaching armored soldiers, Bael landing a few feet away from the gathering group. "Thanks for the help, things were getting a bit too hectic here".

"It was my pleasure" came the synthesized, but unmistakably female voice from the more heavily-armored figure at the front, the red-and-black one. "It's a pleasure to meet you face-to-face, Mr. Orga"

"Likewise, Commander", and silently Orga thanked the fact his voice sounded much deeper than the others around him, the electronic tinge given to it by the Shiden's vocalizer only helping mask it even more. He then turned to the winged Gundam, and he hoped McGillis could feel the look he was giving the general now."Fareed"

"It is good to see the Geth were not enough to fell you, Orga Itsuka" he replied, his voice exuding mirth with every word. "Though it seems the situation was quite more difficult than anticipated"

"Yeah… They're fighting tooth and nail for this place, which means either they're on the last legs and about to be beaten…"

"Or something very important is waiting for us further ahead" finished Shepard, eyeing the few buildings remaining in the distance. "Something they don't want us to get. My bet's on the beacon".

"Then haste is of the utmost importance. Whatever this beacon contains, it certainly seems to justify an invasion like this to them" added McGillis, before once more turning towards Orga. "I suggest we move now, there is no telling what the geth have planned for us".

Shepard gave a quick nod, signaling Kaidan and Ashley forward before turning towards the gathered leaders, her omni-tool flaring to life. "There is a lift just ahead, it can take us to the loading docks where the workers said the beacon us… But…"

"But?"

"… It can't take us _all_ there" she said, gazing over the gathered suits behind Orga. "That's too much weight, even for the cargo lift". Orga made to protest, but this time it was Amida that stepped forward.

"She's got a point, boss. Most of us are running on fumes, and we don't have enough ammo to last another battle"

"I believe it'd be safer to send them back towards the cave system. My troops informed me that apparently they discovered further supplies inside the tunnels, it'd be wise to secure them for us". And though Orga grit his teeth and clenched his fists in rage… He couldn't argue. He had no ideas to give, no counters to their suggestions, nothing.

It was Mars all over again. He was at risk of losing his family, and with no plans.

…

No. No, this time it was different. He had options. He would not lose them again.

"… Alright. Give me a moment" he replied, before walking back to his gathered troops.

It took him some time to give the news and orders to the pilots, but they remained silent as he talked. Whether out of respect or quiet frustration, he couldn't tell, but in the end they relented. Mika, Akihiro and Shino would remain behind to assist, the former two due to their superior melee focus, and the latter because he still had a few shells for his shoulder guns, and quite some ammo for the machineguns. Amida would take command and meet up with the Gjallarhorn and Tekkadan forces already on location, then come back with any extra supplies they could get. Orga would stay behind with the Gundam pilots and McGillis to head with the commander to the beacon's location and secure it.

It pained him to give this order. To have his troops go off somewhere else while he shouldered the risks, it pained him to make them abandon him. Not out of self-preservation, but because he knew how they wanted to call out the hypocrisy in what he said: they weren't supposed to sacrifice themselves for him, but he was allowed to do so.

But as he turned away, a hand touched his shoulder. Orga turned, and to his surprise there was Dios, holding upon his free hand an ammo magazine. One by one, the children walked forward and offered their last ammunition to him, each with their own comment or advice.

Orga stared at the pile of magazines upon his hand from beneath the Shiden's horned helmet, before gazing up at the other suits. They all stood there, before placing a closed fist over their chests.

With renewed determination, Orga wished them all good luck before the group left, Amida placing a caring hand onto his arm before departing. And now left were him, Fareed, Mika, Akihiro, Shino, the commander and her two soldiers.

"Hell of a team you got there" said Shepard, eyeing the distancing exhaust flames. "Bet you've seen your fair share of trouble".

"… You have no idea… Shall we?"

"Yes, let's go. We got a beacon to find"

**-O-**

Saren hobbled towards the ship given to him for his sacred mission. Lithe and with blackened hull, with stealth systems unlike anything the Council could conceive, it was his chariot to perform his now sacred duties. His head throbbed as painfully as his missing arm as the image flashes of the beacon circled his thoughts like a raging storm. But he had done, at the very least.

The Conduit. He had confirmed its existence, and now he could prove it to him.

Yet the information was lacking. He knew it existed, but where? How to find it? How to get to its location? But he already had some plans in motion. Planets that held answers for what he wished.

Noveria, where their research was ongoing for the path.

Feros, for the location and the true unlocking of the beacon.

Therum, for the one would understand its contents.

His pawns were already on the move, all they had to do was perform their duties, and salvation would be at hand.

A geth platform walked up to him just as the turian reached the access ramp of the ship, its body covered with spots of red blood. "What _is it?_ " he spat out in contempt, turning his gaze at the machine slave.

It let out a few garbled electronic noises in response, but Saren understood their language. It was short, direct, refreshingly obedient, yet simpleton. Paling in comparison to their master.

His master.

"Survivors?" he growled low, now completely facing the geth. " _What… survivors?_ ". It replied once more, uncaring of the potential threat to its continued existence. Yet for the turian, the answer rang against his raging mind and increased it tenfold.

Aria Shepard was still alive. Nihlus has been taken out by a sniper shot, and the shot had been 73% fatal, but they had not confirmed the death. And the unknowns… The mechs that had been fighting his troops throughout the colony…

The _spirits damned_ white one that had cut off his arm…

All alive, all headed towards the beacon. That could not stand.

The geth garbled again, and his attention refocused on the servant. "Bombs? No, they would be able to disarm them. Traces will mean nothing if there are no survivors to confirm them"

" **Deploy the Judicator. End them"**

**-O-**

Maros and his team ran through the passageways of the spaceport with gusto, always keeping their weapons leveled for any threat. Their attention was focused on the walkways above, the corners, crates and pillars a geth could be hiding behind or that a trap could be waiting, but it seemed their worries were unfounded.

He was thankful for sending those PMC soldiers first. Whoever they were, they proved themselves skilled enough, and a good distraction. Maros was thankful they had rescued the civilians in other areas too, because it meant their own survivor rescue was shorter.

They had an employer to work for, after all.

They never expected for things to go to hell so fast after the beacon was found, and now the job was harder to accomplish.

For while yes, they were a part of the Systems Alliance military and would fulfill their duty to the end, their _other_ employer also required just as much attention. He asked for information, and he would receive it. It was the deal made between them and their superior with one of the most powerful independents in the galaxy.

He wanted information on and from the beacon, he would receive it.

"Lieutenant, we're approaching the cargo docks. ETA one minute" said one of the soldiers behind him with some tension. Who could blame him?

"Roger that, keep your eyes… open… Hold on, can you hear that?"

The squad halted their charge, rifles leveled nervously to the area around them. They shifted their aim from corner to corner, sweat building up in the layer between their heads and helmets.

That's when they heard it. Faint, and coming closer.

The clanging of metal.

_**VRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNG** _

And the roar.

**-O-**

When they heard the roar, the entire group knew something was amiss. The team broke into a maddened sprint as soon as the tram arrived towards the docks. Metal rung against metal as soldiers and pilots headed towards the building sound of clanging, roaring and gunfire.

And screaming.

They arrived just in time for a shape to fly past between them, smashing against a wall and cracking it, before the now recognizable form of an Alliance marine with charred armor and twisted limbs slunk to the ground. Ahead, a group of troopers desperately fired at something around the corner before a bright blue beam incinerated their bodies. The roar sounded out again, and a _massive_ metallic claw clasped the wall and crunched it into oblivion.

The geth that had said claw attached to itself was nothing less than _gargantuan_.

It stood 12 feet tall, its dull-colored black armor seeming to drain all light from its surroundings. Four large and thick legs threatened to stomp anything beneath them into oblivion, and four arms to match. Two ended in massive four-appendage claws, one had a still smoking hydro-ferrous cannon responsible for the complete annihilation of the previous troops and the last carried a large red machinegun instead of a manipulator. A cannon rested on its right shoulder, the large control fins upon its back jetting out hot air as it turned its tri-lens head towards the group.

Shepard didn't hesitate.

"EVERYBODY MOVE!"

All eight of them dashed to the sides even as the geth's machinegun tore an unholy path in the space they occupied just a second ago. The machine let out a rumbling mechanical roar as it turned towards the wall Kaidan and Ashley had hidden behind, leveling its shoulder gun at them. Both humans, unaware of the weapon aimed towards their hiding spot, nodded to one another and turned with their weapons drawn and ready to fire.

They had no time to react when the accelerated shell smashed against the wall, launching both of them backwards in a plume of fire. Ashley slammed against the floor hard, a loud grunt of pain feeding through the radio as her sniper rifle flew from her grasp. Kaidan spun through the air before colliding with a wall and falling onto the ground, and where he had landed, he did not get up from. The machine turned its gaze towards the fallen woman and leveled its molten metal gun at her, a droning sound building up as the weapon readied to fire.

Screaming in anger, Shepard dashed out from cover, firing her shotgun and shoulder missile launcher at the giant machine. Every single munition hit their mark, yet the kinetic barriers held unfailingly, blue flashes shimmering with every hit. The geth turned its gaze toward the approaching enemy and calmly shifted its intended target. The jet of molten steel fired out as it did so, a blue line cutting the floor apart as it moved towards Aria. With a growl, she slid onto the floor, small verniers firing to propel her body forward as the beam passed over her head. Temperature warnings blared in her HUD, small droplets falling upon and scorching the black plaiting of her Destroyer armor, but she had managed to dodge at least. Two thrusters upon her back fired off, lifting her torso from the ground as the momentum carried her forward towards the machine. Holding her shotgun with her right hand, Aria pulled back her left arm as a broad, sword-like blade was forged by her omni-tool, before thrusting it forward towards the robot's underside. The blade, slow enough to not trigger the barriers, the flash-forged blade smashed against the plating. The diamond blade struggled slightly against the unknown alloy, before burying itself halfway onto the machine.

But for all the bravery in the attack, it left her open. The geth, undaunted by the attack, clasped its claw around the human below itself, both the armor's metal and Shepard herself groaning as the machine lifted her onto the air. Visor and lens met one another before the geth started squeezing, alarms blaring inside Shepard's helmet even as the glass in front of her eyes started cracking and she grit her teeth.

That's when a large axeblade came down upon the geth's arm, puncturing the plating and forcing the limb down. The claw's fingers spasmed from the impact, loosening just enough that Shepard managed to push them open and dropped onto the floor.

Above her, Akihiro pushed down the halberd with all his strength, but the blade went no further, and he was forced to fly back when the geth tried to claw at him with its free arm. As he descended, McGillis and Orga charged forward, swinging swords and partisan at their enemy. The geth once more swung its machinegun forward, roaring fire spewing from them, yet it was blocked by both Bael's crossed swords and the Shiden's shield. McGillis fired his wing cannons at the machine, yet to his mild surprise, even the nanolaminate rounds failed to damage the armor. Undeterred, the general lashed out with his swords, the rare alloy cutting much better than the blunter halberd before it. One thrust through the damaged claw arm, while the other slashed away at the Javelin launcher, slicing off a piece of the weapon's barrel. Orga thrust his partisan towards one of the legs, just as Shepard recovered and lashed out with another flash-forged omni-blade. Both weapons struck in tandem, each hitting one side of the leg, yet the limb did not sever.

The Judicator, registering an increase in the threat level surrounding it, spun its torso to ward off the enemies surrounding it, arms stretched outwards like a top. The four attackers jumped back to avoid, Shepard and Orga firing their weapons in retaliation, and this time the kinetic barriers seemed to weaken. Shino saw an opening and aimed his shoulder guns at the geth.

"Back off, you all!" he screamed aloud, hearing the rounds lock into place inside the guns. The geth acted alike, aiming its shoulder cannon at the stationary Flauros. Together, both fired.

The high-power electromagnetically charged shells slammed against the machine, and while they managed to overload the torso's barrier emitters, the furthest they went was inside the plating, both shells burying themselves onto the machine. The geth's own shot flew straight towards the Gundam's torso, moments away from hitting…

But Mikazuki was faster. With one boost from his engines, the Barbatos flew forward and smashed the shell away with its club, the round detonating upon the ground and kicking up smoke and debris. From the clouds, Mika charged forward firing his wrist guns, emptying whatever rounds he had left upon the machine.

"Akihiro, from the left"

"Got it!"

The two Gundams dashed onto the sides, hefting their respective melee weapons upon their shoulders. The geth focused its attention upon Barbatos, hefting its damaged Javelin gun at the suit, when several explosions went off against its torso.

Shepard racked a new belt of grenades onto her arm, her last set, before taking a few more potshots with her Crusader. With weakened barriers, the geth's plating started taking the damage instead, and the N7 shotgun's heavier ammo left quite a few holes upon it. A foot stomped down in front of her, but it was all she needed to do. With a mighty roar, Akihiro brought down the halberd onto the Judicator's shoulder cannon. The explosives contained inside it reacted poorly to having a large metal blade slammed against it, causing an explosion that made the machine's torso tilt forward. From below, Mika swung his sword club with all his might, burying the thick blade onto the geth's side. The plating groaned and warped around the weapon, but the Judicator did not relent. The Javelin arm aimed once more at Shepard and fired, but the blue stream was blocked when Orga jumped in front of her with his shield raised, the deadly jet of molten metal slamming against and parting around the metal slab. Orga felt the heat build up upon his forearm, but held his ground before being given reprieve when several machinegun rounds shot by Shino buried themselves on the exposed Javelin. The gun whined and screamed, then exploded in a ball of molten metal and noxious gases, splashing against the synthetic's armor. It let out a garbled electronic roar, trying to swivel its remaining gun towards the hostiles, but McGillis was far faster. His swords came down in a flash, faster only being himself flying towards the geth. The blades cut down the rifle arm at the elbow, dropping the massive red machinegun onto the floor. Disarmed, quite literally, of all its weapons, the Judicator did the only thing left as a recourse: it used its body as the weapon. Large feet stomped down and claws swung wildly, yet it found no purchase. Its opponents were smaller but faster and more agile. With no guns to aid it, all it could do was swat at melee.

The area of combat that their mobile suits were built for.

They slashed and smashed their weapons at the geth, each hit doing more and more damage to the massive synthetic. Shino and Shepard fired their weapons with abandon, tearing hole after hole on the plating and bleeding blue fluid onto the floor and made the monstrous machine tremble and shudder.

And yet it still would not die.

Shepard ran forward and racked her last set of grenades onto the launcher before leaping at the geth, grasping at one of its shoulder fins for leverage. The tri-lens head turned to face her, the same loud bass roar echoing as the commander reared her arm back.

"Get the FUCK OFF OUR COLONY!" she bellowed, before thrusting her arm up to the elbow on the geth's head. She clicked the trigger on her hand and pulled back, feeling the grenades leave the catapult and lodge themselves inside, yet as she pulled back one of the claws clamped down on her arm just below the elbow, tightening around the limb and cracking the armor. The commander wasted no time, and flash-forged one more blade, before bringing it down upon the limb.

Her forearm remained behind inside the geth's head, Aria falling down in a heap and glaring in defiance at the machine, when its head and upper torso blasted apart in a shower of broken parts, charred plating and fluids. The massive synthetic's form spasmed and twitched, before slumping onto the floor and dissolving into rapidly evaporating mist.

All fighters stood up panting, sweat dripping profusely inside their own armors as they drew in the precious oxygen. Shepard drew one last, long breath before gazing down at the sparking stump of her arm, letting out a tired sigh. "Well, scratch number four… Chakwas won't be happy with me". A low grunt to the side made her remember that Ashley and Kaidan were still where they had fallen. Aria rushed to Williams' side, kneeling next to the Gunnery Chief, cradling her back with her remaining hand. Ashley's eyes squinted hard, but soon opened slowly.

"C… Commander?" she asked, trying to right herself.

"That's me, Chief. It's alright now, we're safe" replied Shepard, carefully helping the soldier to her feet. Further back, Orga and Akihiro were checking on Kaidan, the prone form of Lieutenant jerking itself back into consciousness. Both pilots hoisted him up by the armpits, his legs shakily holding his body upright as the three walked towards Aria and Ashley. "You doing alright there, Kaidan?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I think so, commander…" he replied, raising his head just enough to look her in the eye. His gaze shifted down to her right arm, and a weak chuckle escaped his lips. "There goes number four?". Shepard shook the stump lightly, squirting some more synthetic blood into the ground.

"Yeah… I don't think the doctor will be too happy about this" she said with a smile, before turning to the rest of the group. "So, everybody still up for a fight?".

Orga stared at the woman in front of him, down an arm that he saw was prosthetic in nature, having just fought a machine that had nearly murdered her unit and herself, and acted very calm about it. As if it was something completely normal.

He'd be the biggest hypocrite if he didn't laugh at how much they seemed to be alike.

"You tell me, commander. I'm not gonna have to cover for you the whole way, right?" he replied playfully, carefully letting go of Kaidan as the soldier found footing on his own.

"Please, as if I couldn't have killed that thing by myself". Orga's reply was cut short however when his radio pinged in, curiously at the same time as McGillis's apparently.

"Orga here, come in"

" _Orga, Amida here_ " came the reply, her voice contrasted by the billowing winds in the background. " _We packed up everything we found, quite a few crates there, plus some… Extras_ "

"Extras? What kind?"

" _How about I keep it a surprise for you, boss?_ " she said cheekily. " _We're also bringing the wounded guy McGillis' men brought with them. He seems stable, just needs a bit more professional attention"_

"Copy that. We're headed to the beacon's location, we'll rendezvous with you there"

" _Copy that, Orga. See you there_ "

"I just received the same confirmation from Isurugi. They're all heading back as one group" said McGillis, walking closer to the two commanding officers. "Shall we, Commander Shepard?". Aria gave a quick nod in response, checking over her Crusader for damage, before propping it on her shoulder.

"Let's go, boys"

**-O-**

Failed.

Failed, failed, failed!

SPIRITS DAMMIT!

Saren smashed his remaining hand against the console of the ship, even as it flew past the Alliance's own stealth vessel in orbit.

They had failed!

They had DAMN FAILED THEIR MISSION!

Shepard was alive, the Judicator had been taken down and they made it to the beacon!

Useless, damn USELESS, ALL OF THEM!

He pounded a closed fist one last time upon the console, the metal completely unfazed by his anger and attempts to vent it.

No, calm yourself… There is still hope.

They won't get anything from it without the cypher. And only he knows how to find it.

And he still had his reputation and authority. He had resources. He could still make them silent, if by less… Final means.

But hampered efforts would be just as good as completely stopped. For now.

But as he felt the pressure in the back of his mind, it was not himself he had to convince.

It was the one holding his strings.

Saren swallowed dry and set the coordinates for the FTL jump.

And silently, he prayed to whatever spirits would forgive him, so that he would forgive him too.

**-O-**

Aria had seen quite a lot in her life that she did not understood. She had witnessed natural phenomena both on Earth and in space, all with wonder and amazement at what nature could make.

The beacon did not make her feel that. It filled her with dread, even anger for what it caused to Eden Prime.

She stared at the black-and-green monolith floating upon a light-metal pedestal, a low hum emanating from it as it bobbed lazily in the air, cracks with light leaking through them all throughout its construction. Around it…

Nothing.

No human bodies, no mutated ones, no geth, not even blood or traces of a fight. There was no sign that anyone had approached the beacon at any point.

Then why did Aria had such a bad feeling about it?

"I assume this to be what we were looking for" said McGillis, calmly scrutinizing the beacon with his gaze. Beside him, Orga eyed their surroundings with suspicion, his rifle still at the ready and tightly held in his grip. Shino, Akihiro and Mika had moved to the outskirts, always alert in case the geth wanted to send any more nasty surprises.

"Well, I didn't see any other mysterious alien tech" snarked back Aria, though the nervous undertone in her voice was not lost to the general. "Williams, is that it?"

"Yeah, definitely but… It wasn't like this when we dug it up…" trailed off the Gunnery Chief. She eyed the monolith suspiciously, her hands ghosting over her pistol for whatever modicum of comfort it would offer. Kaidan, however, seemed a bit more relaxed around it.

"Still, look at this! Actual, working Prothean technology!" said the biotic, walking closer than the others to the beacon. "I just hope whatever we find here is worth all of… This". Aria noted with no small amount of concern when the lieutenant wobbled a bit on his feet, apparently the concussion from being turned into an impromptu baseball had yet to pass. Still, she shared on his sentiment. The sooner they ended this whole thing, the sooner Eden Prime would be given time to heal.

Not to mention deal with their… Guests.

Shepard turned on her heel, using her remaining arm to hit the comm unit on her helmet. Yet as they paced themselves away from the ominous obelisk, they failed to notice Kaidan remain planted on the spot, eyeing it somewhat wistfully. "Shepard to Normandy, come in Normandy"

" _Normandy here, commander_ " came the reply from the ship's pilot, Joker. " _Interference cleared after the cephalogod left the planet, we've been trying to patch in for some time now_ "

"Roger that, we've found the beacon. Transmitting coordinates for a pick-up"

" _Copy that commander, we're headed to your location… Oh, and the captain asked you to bring the tin cans aboard too. You know, the boxy ones, not the geth. I'd rather not have those onboard_ ". Aria couldn't help but chuckle at that. Figures the pilot would live up to his name.

"Roger that Normandy, we'll… What the?!—KAIDAN, MOVE!"

If it had been anyone else, if it had been any lesser soldier, they wouldn't have made it. They would have been too slow to reach Kaidan Alenko as he unknowingly stumbled too close to the Prothean beacon and seemed to trigger its mechanism. The biotic was close to being hefted from the ground, when he felt a vice-like grip around his arm, before he was flung back and away from the monolith.

In his place, Aria Shepard was hoisted from the ground. Invisible forces grasped her body into the air, as if she was made of paper. Ashley shouted her name as the mobile suit pilots charged forward, yet as they approached, their Alaya-Vijnana flared to life, blood flowing from their mouth as the suits locked up, the words ALAYA-VIJNANA SYSTEM/SAFE MODE ACTIVATED blared across their HUDs.

But Shepard did not see this.

She instead listened. Not to those around her.

But those beyond them.

She saw what the beacon showed her.

She heard what the beacon told her.

Flashes, scant images, words she could not fully grasp. But enough.

On that day, Aria Shepard heard the last will of the Protheans.

**-O-**

**THEY CAME FROM BEYOND.**

**THE VEIL THAT SHADOWED WONDERS SHADOWED TOO OBLIVION.**

**WE DID NOT FORESEE THEIR ARRIVAL. YET THEY FORESAW OUR RISE.**

**EACH A NATION. A WILL, UNRELENTING AND ABSOLUTE. OUR EXISTENCE WAS SACRILEGE TO THEM.**

**WE ROSE, WISHING TO FIGHT.**

**WE FOUND OURSELVES RISING TO OUR END INSTEAD.**

**A WAVE OF METAL, ONCE FLESH BUT MADE MORE.**

**WE DID NOT REALIZE THEIR ORIGINS DURING OUR ARMAGGEDON. ONLY WHEN THE FLAMES CONSUMED OUR WORLDS, WHEN OUR GRAVES DOTTED THE STARS, WHEN OUR PLANETS SHONE LIGHT OFF THEIR METAL SHELLS, DID WE SEE THEIR PURPOSE.**

**HEED THIS WARNING. THEY AWAIT.**

**THE VEIL HAS BEEN PULLED UPON YOUR EYES ONCE MORE.**

**FIFTY THOUSAND WAS OUR TIME. FIFTY THOUSAND WILL BE YOURS.**

**THE CYCLE MUST BE BROKEN.**

**THEY DID NOT NAME THEMSELVES. BUT WE GAVE NAME TO THAT WHICH WIPED AWAY OURS.**

**THAT WHICH BROUGHT END UPON US WAS GIVEN ONE WORD.**

**REAPERS.**

**BEWARE THEIR COMING. HARDEN YOUR RESOLVE.**

**BECOME THE END TO THOSE THAT BECAME THE END ITSELF**

**-O-**

Shepard was flung back through the air like a sledgehammer had hit her gut. The armored body sailed until she smashed against the railing of a ramp they had taken down onto the loading bay.

The beacon whined and screamed, the light from its cracks growing stronger and stronger until finally, the obelisk exploded in a shower of crystal and metal. Smoke wafted away onto the sky to mingle with the still blood-red clouds above and disappear into nothingness.

The Prothean beacon was gone. Her mission was a failure. If she had been conscious, she would be screaming her head off. But she wasn't. And that was only part of the panic that flooded Ashley and Kaidan's returning sharp mind.

Thankfully, three boons were granted to them at that moment.

First, was that the lockdown upon the Alaya-Vijnana that had stricken the mobile suits lifted as soon as the beacon shattered. Second was the tell-tale sound of boosters rose from not too far away, before as one, a tide of eighteen mobile suits of varying models crested into view, carrying with them a multitude of large crates.

Third was the roaring of engines as from the heavens, once more, the bird-of-prey that was the _Normandy_ descended upon the gathering forces, offering haven and safety.

Yet haven and safety meant little to the Alliance, and the people of Eden Prime.

For in the end, they had failed.

**-O-**

Regional Commander Eustass Dokrat watched in silence as the sleek form of the SSV stealth frigate sped off into orbit. He let out a tired sigh, before calmly moving to his desk. He tapped a few specific spots upon the finely-crafted wooden table, before with a near-silent click, his standard work computer slid into the hidden mechanical insides of the furniture, and was replaced instead with a single, ultra-high quality monitor. The kind that the military would never waste money on.

But that his contractor would be more than willing to pay for.

" _I presume news are in order?_ " came the cool, collected and heavily synthesized voice from the monitor, a crude shadowed human form standing in for his contractor.

"It appears the beacon has been destroyed. We did not manage to extract any information from it" replied Eustass matter-of-factly. "The team assigned to me was also wiped out. A new type of geth war machine, apparently"

" _That is very unfortunate, Dokrat. What of the unknowns your agents reported?_ "

"They departed with the Normandy. The signal tracker cut off not long after they broke orbit. If I may be as bold as to gander a guess, I'd say they're headed for the Citadel"

" _And you'd be correct to make that assumption. Little information was gathered from their mission previously, but regardless, it seems to have failed. A shame, indeed"_

"I apologize for my failures, Broker" replied the commander, taking a bow out of respect for his contractor. "I intend to find more on whatever is left".

" _There is no need for that_ " replied his contractor almost immediately after. " _What you have gathered is… Sufficient, for now. We will make do with our current leads and gather more once they arrive upon the Citadel_ ". For a second, Dokrat swore that through the shadowed figure, he could see the faintest of smiles, before the final part was spoken. " _For now, some compensation is appropriate. You'll find it upon the usual account"_

"Oh… Thank you, sir" stammered out Eustass. And with that, the screen shut off, sliding back onto the table and replacing it with his usual terminal. The commander sat down upon his chair and booted up the computer, eagerly yet slowly typing in credentials and other necessary information.

He gave a quick prayer to Nestling Lies Squadron thanking them for their services and for peace in their rest for their deaths. He would miss them.

He was also thankful that the geth seemed to, by some miracle, have missed Defense HQ during their attack, since it gave him the privacy he needed for this.

Quickly, Eustass opened up his bank information, a more secretive affair compared to his usual fares. It had a lot more zeroes, for starters.

And he realized, with a smile, that it just had a few more added. Satisfied, he went to log-off.

But his screen had frozen.

Confused, he tried again. And again, and again…

But no matter what he did, the screen remained frozen. He checked his omni-tool and waved it over the terminal.

But his omni-tool was also frozen. The orange hologram remained on, but completely still upon his arm. Eustass began to truly worry now. Had the Broker baited him out? Or another competitor?

His gaze shifted once again to the screen as, one by one, the pixels started shifting into black, erasing the image on the screen. In a few moments, the entire terminal had turned black, the holographic keyboard shut off.

Followed by, in a painfully slow time, five words were spelled upon the screen, in blue blocky words.

YOU HAVE WITNESSED TOO MUCH

**-O-**

Below, a figure in loose white clothes and colorful hair watched in no small amount of amusement as the room containing Regional Commander Eustass Dokrat exploded in a massive fireball, flames licking the floors above and below their point of origin, before pacing away as scant surviving firefighters and soldiers rushed to the building in a vain attempt to save their now-late commanding officer.

The last loose end in Eden Prime had been closed.

There was no need for the Shadow Broker to know about them so soon, after all.


End file.
